Resistance
by animatedrose
Summary: Fighting to survive, nothing is as simple as it once was. A peaceful land has been overtaken, and all those who would resist Lord Ninetales would perish. But there is still hope... ((compilation of a currently-discontinued RP had with A Lurking Demon of the Night, Juffo Wupp, and Kap487 during 2009-2010))


Since this RP is permanently discontinued, I've decided to turn it into an incomplete story. Some details will be added here and there, but it'll basically be the same as the RP itself. Keep in mind that this RP occurred in 2009-2010. Long time ago…

Disclaimer: I do not own this plotline. A Lurking Demon of the Night does. A majority of these characters also belong to her—Koschei, Knower, Ninetales, Captain Arcanine and his troops, Jossar, Rell, Syr and his troops, Mikela, Cynder, Lunare, Lucy, Balakia, and Theta.

Juffo Wup owns Nayan, his troops, and Edin.

Kap487 owns Kael.

Claimer: I own Sabiya, Flower, Kenward and his troops, Vespera, Kanika, Nicolo, Skule and his troops, Elder Espeon, and Elder Persian.

I hope you like it! Enjoy!

Pokémon: Resistance

Sabiya looked around at the wasteland that surrounded her. She had just wandered upon the ruins of an old city that had long since been destroyed by who knows what. The Pikachu sighed, resting against some rubble and gnawing on an Oran Berry.

"What should I do now?" she wondered. "Nobody will believe that I'm actually going to overthrow that damn Ninetales. How am I supposed to get allies if nobody will listen to me? Damn it!"

She kicked a piece of rubble, sparks flying from her cheeks in rage. After calming down, she returned to her sitting place and finished off her berry. The sun shone high above, warming her yellow fur. Sabiya sighed, tired.

Koschei sauntered up to the Pikachu, keeping his claws sheathed.

Sabiya's ear twitched, registering the sound of gravel shifting underfoot. Turning, she eyed the Meowth nervously. She'd come across her fair share of thieves and criminals before, so much that she couldn't tell the difference between a criminal and a civilian. Sparks shot from her cheeks threateningly.

"What do you want?" she growled, ready to electrocute the feline should he do anything...unpleasant.

"Now, now..." Koschei meowed, making himself look pitiful; it was fairly easy. The Meowth's fur was patched and ragged, and his ribs were very visible under his grimy fur. "Hey, do you have any food?"

"Yeah...?" Sabiya pulled out a pair of Oran Berries from her pack and tossed them to the Meowth. "Here,"

She clutched her bag to her chest, one paw wrapping around the emerald necklace around her neck. No way in hell was she losing her stuff!

"I've been running for three days now," Koschei meowed, rolling his shoulders in exhaustion. _Hah. Three days? More like three hours... _"It was so kind of you to help a poor rebel like me..."

The Pikachu's ears perked at the word 'rebel'. "Were you running from Ninetales?" she asked.

"Yes, one of his Captains has been chasing me through the desert." Koschei lied so easily, it made no difference to him. "Do you have any water?"

"Not much but it's enough," Sabiya said, digging through her bag for a water bottle. _Good thing I stocked up on water back in Berry Town,_ she thought, tossing the Meowth a bottle.

"Thank you!" Koschei began drinking, smiling inwardly. _How should I get that necklace? Oh, this should be fun..._

_I've got a bad feeling about this guy,_ Sabiya thought, tightening her grip on her necklace. "Well...I better go. I've got a long ways to go still before nightfall. Bye?"

The Pikachu hopped off the piece of debris she had been sitting on, taking a few quick steps away from the Meowth. Turning, she dashed along a fallen pillar and jumped over it to the ground below. Her ears twitched, waiting to see if he would pursue her.

"Oh- Don't you want this bottle back?" Koschei asked, looking at the bottle. "It's not too far from Berry Town, I can get there without a drink. And I never really thanked you properly."

"Keep it! I've got more!" Sabiya replied from behind the pillar. "And I'm not headed back to Berry Town! I'm going south!"

"Okay. Thank you, anyway." Koschei began walking off in the direction of Berry Town- then jumped up on top of a half standing pillar. He could see the Pikachu, hiding. _You could have made this easy..._

Hearing claws scraping on the stone pillar above, she shot out from beneath it with a burst of speed from Quick Attack. _I knew it!_ Sabiya thought, sparks shooting from her cheeks as she ran from the Old Ruins and out into Granite Desert.

"Oh, no you don't..." Koschei murmured, leaping off the pillar and shooting after her.

Sabiya growled, looking behind her to see the Meowth chasing her. The hot sand burnt her paws but she kept moving. Suddenly, she twisted around and unleashed a powerful blast of electricity from her cheeks.

"Take this, you creep!" she yelled. She let loose a powerful Thunderbolt.

Koschei ducked under the bolt and used Dig, vanishing under the sands.

"Damn it!" Sabiya cursed, jumping around in an attempt to confuse the feline by being in more than one place at a time. "Have a taste of my Double Team!" Pikachu clones appeared, leaping all over the place.

Koschei smirked slightly as he burst out of the sand, deliberately trying to let himself be hit.

One of the Pikachu clones vanished while the others gathered around Sabiya. All of them smirked, looking completely identical.

"What do you want with me?" they demanded at the same time. Sabiya smiled inside. _I'm a master trickster, idiot. Don't think it'll be easy to steal from me!_

Koschei rolled his eyes. A Swablu had pulled the same trick on him only hours ago. He didn't live, and neither would this Pikachu!

"I'm just a simple kid trying to make my way in this world." He unsheathed his claws. "This all could have been avoided if you weren't so damn suspicious. I guess that's just a mouse thing. But that necklace of yours- I'll be taking it!"

"Not as long as I live and breathe!" Sabiya snarled. "Take this! Quick Attack!"

All of the clones shot toward the Meowth, electricity shooting from their cheeks. Just as they were about to strike him...the ground collapsed under their feet. Sabiya screamed as she fell toward the ground far below. The moment she hit the ground, a second scream erupted from beneath her. The Pikachu clones vanished the moment they all hit the ground, leaving Sabiya alone with the second voice.

"What the hell happened?" Sabiya coughed.

"Could you *cough* get off of *cough* me?" a tiny voice asked. "You're squi- *cough* squishing me!"

"Huh? Oh!" Sabiya jumped away and turned to see she had been on an Eevee. "Sorry!"

The Eevee stood up shakily, coughing. "I'm *cough* okay. Why are you *cough* down here?"

"This Meowth was trying to steal my necklace." Sabiya explained, clutching it tighter in her paw. "When I was attacking him, the ground collapsed and I fell down here. The rest is history. How did you get down here, kid?"

"I don't really *cough* remember," the Eevee admitted. "I was walking across the desert and I think I fainted. When I woke up, I was down here and my paws were covered in sand. I must've dug my way down here but I can't remember digging a tunnel. I've been down here ever since."

"Scary," Sabiya chuckled. "Maybe you were dream-digging."

"Maybe," the Eevee giggled. "Oh! I'm Flower!"

"Sabiya," the Pikachu replied, looking up at the hole in the ceiling high above. "Hey, got any quick exits? I don't think that Meowth is about to give up on getting my necklace."

"Yeah, this way! It's not an exit, but it's a good hiding place nonetheless!" Flower said, leading the way through the underground tunnel.

.o.o.o.o.

"Oh, that's not fair," Koschei muttered. Mostly because he was rather irritated, and hadn't gotten any good treasures recently, he decided on something.

Pulling out a blast seed, Koschei threw it into the tunnel.

.o.o.o.o.

As the pair fled, a huge explosion rocked the ground behind them. "Fucking cat!" Sabiya cursed as sand rained down on them from the ceiling.

"At least he hasn't jumped down and chased us yet," Flower commented.

.o.o.o.o.

"Still alive?" Koschei commented. "Well, then..." He jumped down into the tunnel, using Dig to go underground and pop up in front of the two. "You're not going anywhere."

"This way!" Flower cried, leaping into a nearby tunnel that led into a dark room. "Go fast, Sabiya!"

The Pikachu leaped after her, heart leaping in her throat as she spotted a sleeping figure in the room. "No way! That's a-"

"No time! Hurry!" Flower cried, keeping to the edge of the room.

"Fuck," Sabiya cursed, following the Eevee.

Koschei watched them go, feeling annoyed. Seriously, was he that scary? Well, the cat and mouse thing might be a little reasonable, but still...

The Meowth began walking down through the tunnel, wondering where anything was.

Reaching the far end of the room, Flower and Sabiya stayed quiet as they saw the Meowth's shadow in the doorway. The sleeping figure snored silently, its long body shifting ever-so-slightly with each inhaled breath. It was oblivious to the chase occurring in its den...at least, for the moment.

"Flower, do you know what this is?!" the Pikachu hissed.

"Yes," Flower nodded.

"This thing will _eat_ us!" Sabiya persisted.

"Not if we keep quiet and don't wake it up," Flower quietly argued. "If we're lucky, that Meowth might give up the moment he sees it."

In the dark room, sleeping dead-center...was a massive Arbok.

Koschei looked at the Arbok, and figured that the two larger Pokemon would make a better meal than scrawny him. But a stupid snake wasn't going to stop him.

"Stop running and fight me." He growled low in his throat. "Or are you as much of a coward as I first suspected?"

"I'd rather not fight, you stupid furball! I'm not giving you my necklace, no way, no how!" Sabiya declared.

"Keep it down!" Flower hissed.

"He already knows we're here and, frankly, I don't think he cares about the Arbok." Sabiya said.

"He will when it wakes up! It doesn't know we're here and he's practically in its face!" Flower argued. "Who do you think it will go for?"

"Good point," the Pikachu muttered.

"So, a coward," Koschei confirmed. "You'd hide in the shadows, running like the rodent you are. Even a kid like me can tell that. And you claim to oppose Ninetales? You can't even oppose _me._ Why bother, Pikachu? You are a coward by nature."

"I'm no coward! I would prefer to keep my treasure, though!" Sabiya snapped.

The Arbok shifted, nearly crushing Flower and Sabiya against the back wall. Flower gasped as she saw its eyes twitch, struggling to open. It was waking up.

"Oops," the Pikachu said.

"I told you!" Flower hissed.

Koschei rolled his eyes. The snake was awake. Maybe it would kill those pests for him. Backing up, he began to run back down the tunnel, calling. "_Once a coward, always a coward...!_"

The Arbok blinked before raising it upper body, tongue flicking from its mouth as it tried to figure out what had woken it up. Flower dug at the sand near where she and Sabiya were, uncovering a rotten wood door. Pushing it open, the duo dove through it and ended up in a large cavern with a clear view of the sky above. Some rocks piled up in a corner served as makeshift stairs, allowing them to escape from the pit and get back to the surface.

"Whew! That was close!" Sabiya panted. "Quick thinking, Flower!"

"Thanks!" the Eevee giggled. "Hey, where do we go now?"

"I'm headed south in search of others who want to rebel against Ninetales." the Pikachu replied. "He's an evil and cruel lord who must be defeated at all costs!"

"So, where are we going?" Flower asked.

"Jade City," Sabiya replied. "It's been virtually untouched by Ninetales' troops. I'm going to build a rebel base there so he can't get his dirty paws on the gold nuggets in the Karp River."

"Wow! I want to go, too!" Flower cried.

"Really? It'll be dangerous and you're just a kid." the Pikachu argued.

"So?! Ninetales is really mean and I want to help beat him!" Flower cried.

"Okay," Sabiya nodded. "Have it your way."

Together, the duo headed south toward Jade City. Unfortunately, they'd still have to pass through a few more places before they got there. Luckily, they'd find more friends...and more enemies along the way.

.o.o.o.o.

In the Onyx Palace, a young Bulbasaur walked through the cold black halls. There were only a few torches, blazing with blue flame. He shuddered, then turned his attention to the door at the end of the hall.

"My Lord, why is this child here?" Captain Arcanine asked, looking distastefully at the Bulbasaur seated at the side of the blood-colored fox.

Ninetales smiled slightly. "Well, he just needs to prove something for me. Isn't that right, Knower?" He looked down at the motionless Bulbasaur. "Can you tell me what they are saying?"

The Bulbasaur looked first at Jossar the Flareon, who flinched.

"...This one adores you. He wants to be the one at your side." The Bulbasaur stated, looking now at Arcanine. Jossar looked angry, but he didn't do anything.

"...He respects you..." And so this continued, the Bulbasaur, no more than a child, looking at each of the officers. But he did not say anything until he looked at Ninetales.

"All of these Pokemon want to stand before you; Some as friends, one as an enemy." The Bulbasaur turned his focus on a Luxray, who bristled. "This one wants nothing more than to see you bleeding on the ground, with your head on a stake. He has been feeding information to rebels all over the region. He is a traitor."

"Little liar, how dare you?" The Luxray snarled.

"Karak, Karak, Karak... Why? You were a good Commander... I regret this." Ninetales smiled slightly before leaping.

The sound of blood spattering the black floors made Arcanine shudder, closing his eyes. He did not see the Bulbasaur staring at him with those cold eyes...

Kenward the Charmeleon shook his head. "Poor bastard," he muttered.

Swigging his flaming tail effortlessly, he looked at the Bulbasaur. _It can see the loyalty in our hearts or something? That's a pretty dangerous power to have. At least rebels can't just sneak in here and get away with their plans now,_ he thought.

.o.o.o.o.

Arcanine looked out over the Evergreen River. Though he hated being anywhere near water, this was necessary.

.o.o.o.o.

In the Stormcrash Ruins, Nayan travelled with the twenty two soldiers under his command. Currently, he had most of them in four groups of five, traversing the southwest of the ruins for any members of the rebellion, or criminals. Two more flew with him. Many rebels and such thought that the demolished structures of the ruins would be good hiding spots. He was out to prove that this was not so.

Nayan flew above the scene, looking over his soldiers along with a little Zubat relative of his. That one had been sent out to learn from him, to be prepared for the military. Of course, that was not the only Pokemon with him. Not too far away flew the two Noctowl that accompanied him. Perhaps a little inexperienced, but their bulk and intimidation made up for that. Of course, their Hypnosis was deadly as well, as any rebels who fell asleep in the face of his force... They were far less likely to survive the ordeal.

The Golbat released little pings of sound, reviewing the status of the groups, and looking for anyone alone, any groups breaking up. It was too dark to observe the ground with his eyes directly, although his Noctowl had no such problems and were trained to report if they saw anything.

A young Growlithe ran into the ruins, panting. "Captain! CAPTAIN!"

The Noctowl heard the Growlithe and informed Nayan that someone wished to speak to him. With little more warning than a spoken command, "Stay!" he swept downwards towards the Growlithe. Upon arrival, he killed his speed with his large wings spread out, and with what little momentum was left, made a little loop-de-loop to hang upside down from a small arch that had been left standing.

"Speak."

"L-Lord Ninetales has summoned you. I have brought the message from Captain Arcanine, who was given the order from Ninetales." The Growlithe spoke quickly.

"Ninetales has summoned me? Then I shall depart immediately," said the Golbat.

"Order!" he cried out, along with high-pitched clicks right afterwards.

Overhead, the Noctowl began to circle over his spot, calling out in deep tones, but no words. As this went onward, the Pokemon not near enough to hear his first call assembled. Before long, all of his soldiers and his Zubat nephew were assembled, and after a short command they began to head back to the palace of Ninetales.

Setting a rapid pace, they finally made it to the castle that was black from bloodstains. The smell enticed the Golbat, as he awaited further commands for his group.

A Houndoom stood guard at the black gates, and upon seeing the Golbat, nodded and howled. The resounding call alerted two Kabutops that opened the gate, allowing the company passage.

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales sat on his pedestal, Rell at a seat beside him. The little Bulbasaur was munching on a fine assortment of berries and seeds.

"Satisfied, Rell?" Ninetales asked, examining his own bloodstained claws.

"Yes." Rell paused for enough time between bites to answer.

"Good. Good." Ninetales looked up as a Spearow flew into the room."I told you that I did not wish to be disturbed!"

"My lord, Captain Nayan is here." The Spearow flinched, trying not to panic.

"He is? That's early. I expected him a day from now. I guess Arcanine's messenger was fast indeed. Very well; Send him in." Ninetales looked down at Rell as the Spearow bowed and departed. "Are you well, my little Listener?"

"Fairly." Rell swallowed and merely looked bored. "What do you want me to do?"

"What you do best, little one." Ninetales smiled as Rell nodded.

.o.o.o.o.

Captain Nayan entered into the dark palace, invigorated by the scent of blood. He rapidly flapped to the throne room of his leader and stopped to get on the ground for a moment. His legs being underdeveloped for standing up, especially under such a large weight, he tottered for a bit before spreading his wings and holding them against the floor, for support, and clumsily gave a little bow. Not having sturdy legs was an issue for decorum at times.

"My lord! ... We are prepared to comply with your commands."

"Ah, good! My friends, I am sorry to have disturbed you." Ninetales sat up on his pedestal, while Rell stared at the Golbat.

"To business, I have been most annoyed to discover that the locals of Skywing Village have revolted, driving out and killing most of the soldiers stationed in the village. They expect me to send forces to attack them."

"Yes? Do you wish for us to assault Skywing Village, my Lord?" asked Captain Nayan.

A Mankey in his group shuddered at that prospect. She felt very tired from the hard march to the castle, and the prospect of more walking didn't inspire joy in her.

"Actually, an assault from the ground would not work. They have set up barricades and anyone on the ground would be easy targets. No, I must ask you to use what Arceus has given you." Ninetales smiled slightly. "Attack them from the air."

Captain Nayan blinked a bit.

"An air attack, my Lord? I'm alright in the air, as are my two Noctowl here," he said, conspicuously leaving out his nephew, "But all of the rest of my soldiers are not, as I'm sure you have seen and planned for. Where do I tell my soldiers to go for your cause while I and my Noctowl are fighting against the rebellion in that town?"

"In order for you to have beaten out the rebellion there, Captain Arcanine is to send his forces to aid you. Once you attack from the air, Arcanine's Growlithe, who are much faster than I have given credit for, will come in and finish the rest. Does that sound like it would work?" Ninetales looked at Nayan.

"Ah, so they burn the barricades after I attack, and then the rest of my forces can march alongside the forces of Captain Arcanine, if I am not interpreting your plan badly?" asked the Golbat to his lord."Very well. I do, however, have one last question: do I have any air support or am I limited to my own forces, my Lord?"

"Yes, that was the idea. As for air support, Commander Syr should be here any minute; He'll be giving you the support you need." Ninetales nodded. "But while you are on this attack, Syr is the superior officer. You would follow his orders if something does not go according to plan."

"Yes, my Lord. Is that all, my Lord?"

The reason Nayan asked was because of the way the Bulbasaur was looking at him. He'd been reviewed by that one very recently, when he became Captain. He certainly hoped that he and his troops especially were going to be purged of those who did not fight for Lord Ninetales. The last thing he needed was a defection.

"That is all. Oh, here's Syr." Ninetales nodded as the Staraptor strode into the room, flanked by a Staravia and a Pidgeotto.

"My Lord," Syr made a sweeping bow, before straightening and looking curiously at Nayan. "Captain,"

"Are you aware of your task?" Ninetales asked the great bird.

"Yes, my lord." Syr nodded, about to beckon to Nayan when Rell called out.

"Wait."

Ninetales looked down at the Bulbasaur as he stared at Nayan's forces.

"I want to check them," Rell stated coldly.

"You wish to check our forces? It is good that we be purged of any potential traitors, most especially before a fight. Troops, submit yourselves," Nayan said, while the Bulbasaur would scan them.

The Bulbasaur got off his smaller pedestal, and looked into the eyes of one of the Noctowl. "...Fine." Turning to the other, he repeated the process and the jurisdiction. As he went along, he shook his head. Finally, at the female Mankey, he turned to Ninetales. "This one is a traitor."

Before Ninetales could comment, Rell looked up at the Rhyhorn. "This one, too,"

"What is this now, Ince?" the Golbat Captain said while turning around to the Mankey. He knocked her down with a powerful wing sweep and, while she was vulnerable, violently bit down on her. She struggled under the Golbat's bite, but as he drained massive quantities of blood from her, she stopped her struggling, fading into sleep. It would be one she would never wake from.

Turning to the Rhyhorn after releasing the body of the Mankey... Well, that one obviously couldn't be killed so quickly, at least not by him. This was why he disliked having Pokemon strong against his attacks under his command; he'd been meaning for him to 'accidentally' be killed in battle, anyway.

"Noctowl,"

As the owls performed Hypnosis on the Rhyhorn, he tried to run towards the Ninetales in an effort to kill him. Unfortunately for him, he slumped in sleep.

The Golbat Captain was hesitant to have his forces attack, now. After all, this was an attempt to assault their Lord, and he wasn't sure if a mere death by his forces would be nearly as bad as he deserved.

"What shall be done to that one, my Lord?" asked Nayan.

"Rell here could take care of him." Ninetales smirked. Rell gave a small grin and wrapped his vines around the Rhyhorn's neck, tightening them.

As the Golbat watched the strangulation proceed, he stayed still.

Traitors. This is what they deserve.

Bloated from the blood, Nayan was no longer able to stand on his legs. He just supported himself with his wings pressing against the floor as best as he could.

"... Very well, if the traitors have been removed, we may then carry on with the operation," said Nayan after he deemed the Rhyhorn to be dead.

He was entirely ready for his forces to move onward, if the Staraptor felt ready.

"I am ready, Captain. My forces are outside. Shall we?" Syr looked away from the dead Rhyhorn and prepared to leave.

"I would say good luck," Ninetales said as Rell retracted his vines. "But the truly skilled need no luck."

With one last bow, Captain Nayan gathered up his remaining, shaken forces, to go with him. He commanded the ones on the ground to go and join the forces of Captain Arcanine, while his Noctowl and himself would be joining those of Commander Syr.

Taking aside his nephew, before he went on with Commander Syr, he strictly instructed him to never entertain thoughts of rebellion.

"You know as well as I that the leadership of Lord Ninetales is the reason why we can be successful as you see today. Without his glorious rule, we would be little more than scum, forced to pick at what little we could of foolish travelers, and then withstand the exterminating forces sent to rid us from caverns. Now, we have spread from the cursed Shadow Plains to even the forests of Berry Town of which you originated. We are soldiers, we are captains, it is all because of Lord Ninetales. There is no higher cause than that of his. Traitors are dealt with as you so clearly saw. Let this be impressed upon your mind."

With those words, Nayan sent the nephew to go back to his relatives, and joined up with Syr.

"Well, the plan would be to surprise them from above." Syr called to his flock of Murkrow, Starly, Pidgey, Spearow, and Taillow, which numbered around 10 total. "But only harm the ones that attack you. From the reports of the scouts, only half of the townsfolk staged the revolt. The leader of this little uprising is a Nidorino by the name of Domo. The village elder, a Pidgeot named Koro, is not to be harmed. He warned the village against this revolt and was imprisoned for his troubles. We are going to first dive-bomb the village. While all the guards are distracted, Arcanine's forces and your remaining troops will swarm from the ground."

"So we'll have to have some sort of signal for them to strike, as well," said Nayan. "We'll have to think over that one. But keep in mind in your calculations that my Noctowl aren't as tough as they might appear," he said.

The Noctowl looked at their talons.

"To compensate for that, they are entirely capable of hypnosis and mind tricks, along with intimidation value."

They looked a little more proud with that.

"We are ready to depart, and I take it your forces are as well. Please inform me, Commander Syr, if your plan is to change at any time."

"We must wait for word from Captain Arcanine." Syr said, his powerful muscles rippling as he looked around. High above, a Pidgey circled.

As it landed, Syr asked. "What news do you bring?"

"Captain Arcanine has positioned his troops outside Fiery Meadow, waiting for you," the Pidgey chirped.

"Captain Arcanine has gotten really swift messengers all of a sudden," mentioned the Golbat. "If he is ready, then I suppose we will be coming around as well?"

"Yes, he has, though the Pidgey belongs to my forces." Syr commented as he spread his wings. "We shall be flying ahead of your ground-bound forces."

"Yes, Commander Syr. My forces will likely reach those of Captain Arcanine a little after our attack begins."

With that, the Golbat began to beat his wings, soon gaining the force needed to propel his weight into the air. Having a massive wingspan certainly helped the matter, and he got up easily in the sky after that. No more awkward waddling for him.

Syr soared up into the sky after Nayan, his powerful wings allowing him to easily reach the Golbat. His forces flew up after them, flapping around in a V-shape.

The Golbat retired to behind Commander Syr in the V-shape. After all, he wasn't the leader beyond two Noctowl in this group, and beyond that, the blood left him heavy, despite his great wingspan. So he accepted the help of flying behind in the V-shape, as he needed to be as powerful as possible in the raid. Especially if Pidgey and such were all that the Commander had to offer for troops.

Syr flapped his wings until he caught an updraft and was able to glide. He could see Fiery Meadow below. Arcanine's forces were on the move.

Captain Nayan looked down upon his forces. They hadn't yet caught up with the Arcanine's forces yet, but they were getting there.

.o.o.o.o.

Skywing Village was in sight. Around the barricade, Pokemon were standing guard.

Captain Nayan was a little amused at this. None of them seemed to be looking up, at what creatures were about to rush their defense. Perhaps they were worrying about the forces coming up from Fiery Meadow? Could they even see that far?

He wasn't looking over the area with his eyes. No, Nayan was echo-locating, his vision only a supplement. To be honest, his eyes weren't all that good.

Syr signaled as soon as they were close enough. His forces began diving toward the village, Syr at the head of the V-shape.

Captain Nayan gave a nightmarish 'grin' as he swooped down, his Noctowl behind him and aiming Hypnosis at anything looking skyward. Nayan planned to catch his targets napping, at least the ones that had obviously been guarding the place.

Syr swooped down, using Aerial Ace on those that tried to cry out. His bird forces dived, scratching and clawing at the Pokemon on the ground.

The Noctowl tried to help the flock that Commander Syr commanded by intimidating, confusing, and hypnotizing their targets. Sure, they could kill some of their own well enough, but it was easier and more efficient to help the many birds out with their kills rather than to go after their own.

Captain Nayan was also helping along with his Confuse Rays, but he was also using the direct approach. 'Direct approach', of course, meaning 'bite into any part that looks important enough, hold them captive in your mouth and fire off Confuse Rays until they bled to death, spit them out, and repeat'.

The Nidorino who had been behind the revolt dodged and hid inside a building instead of fighting.

Syr noticed a faint pounding on one of the doors in the village. He landed and pecked a hole in the door. An elderly Pidgeot was visible through the hole.

"Are you a soldier of Ninetales' army?" He asked in a hiss.

"I am Commander Syr. Are you Koro?" Syr responded.

"Yes. They trapped me in here when I threatened to tell the soldiers here about their revolt. Get me out." Koro tried to squeeze through the hole, but Syr broke down the door with a powerful blow and allowed the Pidgeot to fly away.

As Captain Nayan chewed on a Raticate that had tried attacking him, one of his Noctowl approached him.

"Captain Nayan! I have seen a Nidorino enter that building." He gestured with a wing towards the building it had entered. "Shall we pursue him?"

Spitting out the dead Raticate after sucking a small bit of blood out, Nayan took off towards the building, smashing his bulk against the door, while his Noctowl searched for a window.

The other Noctowl was helping the flock of smaller flying Pokemon.

The Nidorino tried to open the secret passage that would take him to Karp River, but the latch was rusted.

The Noctowl found a window and snuck through, just as Captain Nayan smashed through the door and advanced on the Nidorino.

"You are the one who organized the rebellion?" demanded the Golbat.

The Noctowl was not quite where they were, yet. He instead was navigating the rooms to find them.

"Ninetales is a murderer! He deserves to fall!" the Nidorino declared.

"Evidence enough," Nayan decided.

The Golbat fired off a Confuse Ray at him, just as his Noctowl soldier walked in. Upon seeing his Captain fighting this Nidorino, he immediately attempted to hypnotize it.

The Nidorino wavered under the power of the Confuse Ray, and then fell to the floor, struggling against the Hypnosis. "You...won't win...! Ninetales...will...fall!"

"If it's only ones like you that oppose our Lord, his rule will be long," remarked the Noctowl as it ceased its Hypnosis attack. By that point in time, Captain Nayan had managed to get close enough to chomp on the Nidorino, and begin to drain his blood. The Golbat did not fear poison, he merely hoped that it would remain reasonably still from the effects that had been lumped onto it.

.o.o.o.o.

Syr, having freed the Pidgeot, flew through the village streets, looking for Nayan.

.o.o.o.o.

Nayan finished up with the Nidorino, extracting enough blood for it to fall unconscious. Taking out a bit more, the Golbat found he was almost full and probably couldn't fly with more. Spitting the Nidorino back out, he ripped at vulnerable areas on his underside, like where his heart was, that he couldn't possibly hope to defend, being unconscious. It wasn't long before Nayan decided that there was no hope for the Nidorino to survive. At this point, he told his Noctowl to exit the building and inform Commander Syr that he had the body of the Nidorino.

.o.o.o.o.

Captain Arcanine looked up at the blockade as he ran. No guards. Perfect. Howling to his forces, the fire dog leapt swiftly over the blockade and burnt a nearby Treecko.

.o.o.o.o.

As the Golbat began to carry out the body of the Nidorino with some difficulty, his Noctowl, after informing the Commander Syr of how the leader of the revolt had been killed, joined the other Noctowl in coordinating the forces of small flying types. Needless to say, they were overjoyed to see the reinforcements arriving.

Captain Nayan threw the corpse of the Nidorino out into the open.

"Your leader is dead!" he spat out to the rebels, along with a little blood.

Upon seeing this, all the fight went out of the rebels. Most of them began running toward the village gates, unaware of the Pokemon rushing in through it.

The Noctowl, of course, were even more relieved at this. Their training under Captain Nayan had always stressed that to succumb to chaos in a battle is to die, and here they were, their opponents running around and not paying attention to the Pokemon flooding in past the unmanned barricades.

The rest of Nayan's troops were forming a large part of the force moving inward to the town, and they were of course also happily surprised to find that their targets were in a chaotic state, the rebellion's leader dead at the feet of their own leader.

Captain Arcanine sank his fangs into a running Pikachu, shaking her violently until her neck snapped. Meanwhile, his forces were launching Ember attacks at any rebel they saw fleeing.

Captain Nayan's forces were making great headway into the defeat of the rebels:

His Mankey and Nuzleaf were beating on any rebel running about, while his Parasect and Paras were spreading powders to immobilize and sicken any who neared the exits that had been found. A Tangela went to strangle those slowed by the toxins, and his Sandshrew were making small blockades with their rolled up bodies in corners, trapping rebels in said corners. His Nincada and Trapinch would then burrow past the Sandshrew and rip those Pokemon to shreds.

Meanwhile, figuring that it was chaotic enough for Commander Syr's forces to attack on their own, they set to raking rebels with their claws, especially through the eyes.

The Machop were pummeling the rebels into irreparable conditions, while the Tyrogue were doing pretty much the same thing. The Gloom in Nayan's forces were walking around, spreading some spores, but mainly throwing acid in the face of rebels.

.o.o.o.o.

Syr looked around. The rebels were dead or dying, and the innocent townsfolk were huddled in corners of the main square.

"This is what happens to those who oppose Lord Ninetales," Syr declared, looking around for Nayan and Arcanine. Their job was done. It was time to ride the wind again.

It was easy enough to find the Golbat, hanging in sinister fashion under the arch where the door had previously been.

Upon seeing Commander Syr pass by, and perhaps notice the corpse of the Nidorino, he had a proposition:

"Do you think it would be a nice indicator of what happens to traitors if we impaled him on a stick around here and left him up to hang until he rotted, Commander Syr?"

"I think so. Do you want me to do that? I think I could manage, but I have no hands," Syr responded.

"I just meant in general. I have some Mankey and Nuzleaf more than capable of carrying the traitor, and then it's simply a matter of finding a thin, tall tree, and getting whatever branches of it off." Nayan offered.

"Indeed. Now, I shall go find a stick," Syr said, striding off.

Captain Nayan ordered his Mankey and Nuzleaf to carry the Nidorino, as his other Pokemon instated order among the frightened inhabitants of Skywing.

Captain Arcanine prowled through the streets, helping the townsfolk in any way he could.

Syr walked a short way out of the village, looking for a tree. There was one, with many long and straight branches.

The Nuzleaf, having set down the body of the Nidorino, went up the tree and began to hack at the branches. After they would cut a sufficient amount, some Mankey would pull on the branch and punch at it, getting off just before it fell. This continued until the tree was free of branches.

Captain Nayan, having followed, tried to fly the body up to the top, to impale it, but he couldn't quite get it up; he was too bloated on the blood of rebels. He asked Commander Syr to assist him.

Syr grabbed the Nidorino's scruff in his large beak, holding onto the traitor's lower legs with his own. With some difficulty, he got into the air.

Helping Commander Syr, the Golbat powerfully flapped his wings until they'd gotten a foot or so above the point of the tree; it had been sharpened by the Nuzleaf.

The Golbat threw it down as well as he could onto that point, signaling for Commander Syr to follow his motions.

Syr followed as best he could; his wings were made for gliding and diving, not delicate maneuvers like this. But he managed to throw the body of the Nidorino onto the sharpened top of the tree.

.o.o.o.o.

Koschei wandered through the tunnel, eventually coming up through the ground a short distance from where the impaling process was happening.

.o.o.o.o.

Captain Nayan gave a little chuckle at the impaled Nidorino, after swooping around to check it out from other angles.

"That's nice and visible easily from anywhere in the town as a demonstration of what happens to traitors. It helps that he's pink. With that mission accomplished, shall we be heading back to our Lord?"

"Yes, we shall." Syr nodded.

With that, Captain Nayan flew back to organize his troops for the move back to the black palace. He was secretly giddy over how few Pokemon had been lost; sure, Commander Syr had suffered some casualties, but that was really to be expected when you invaded a guarded town like this with some rather weak flying Pokemon. On top of that, he'd taken the leader of the movement down with no more than a little assistance from one of his Noctowl. The Golbat hoped that his lord would be pleased with him.

"Onward to the palace of our Lord!" commanded Captain Nayan to his soldiers. They were tired from the fighting, but they began to head back at a swift pace all the same.

.o.o.o.o.

Koschei rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing?" The voice made the Meowth jump. Captain Arcanine was standing behind him.

"Simply passing by, good sir, but I have some information for you." The Meowth smiled.

"What information?" Arcanine asked.

"That a Pikachu with an emerald necklace is planning to overthrow your Lord." Koschei grinned. "Her and an Eevee."

"Well, that's interesting." Arcanine commented.

"Captain! We're leaving!" Syr called as he prepared to take to the skies.

.o.o.o.o.

Kenward growled, his flaming tail swinging angrily as he tapped his foot. _Why me?_ he wondered as a Glameow made her way toward him. _Why did Lord Ninetales have to send me to gather intel from this no-good thief?_

"Do you have the money?" Psiren asked.

"Yeah," the Charmeleon nodded. "Tell first and then you'll get it."

"A young Pikachu is wandering through Granite Desert. She's planning on making a rebel base in Jade City in order to prevent Ninetales from mining the gold in the Karp River." Psiren said. "She'll be passing through Fiery Field soon."

"Here's your damn money. This better be worth it." Kenward tossed her the bag of cash.

"Oh, don't you worry. I only give the best intel to my beloved employees." Psiren purred.

"Whatever," Kenward walked away, heading back to the palace.

Rell was waiting for Kenward as he returned.

The Charmeleon stopped once he reached the Bulbasaur. "Psiren says there's a rebel Pikachu crossing the Granite Desert. She's going to build a rebel base in Jade City to stop us from mining gold in the Karp River. She'll be crossing Fiery Field soon."

Rell nodded, the Charmeleon wasn't lying.

"Anything else Lord Ninetales wishes me to do?" Kenward asked.

.o.o.o.o.

Sabiya and Flower reached Fiery Field at long last.

"Ooh! It's so pretty!" Flower cooed.

"Let's hurry. We've got a lot of ground to cover before sundown." Sabiya said.

"Right!" the Eevee nodded.

The pair began their dash across the field of red and orange flowers, unaware of the Pokémon they were about to meet.

.o.o.o.o.

Vespera the Vulpix was curled up in a thick patch of red and orange flowers in Fiery Field, sleeping. It was the first moment of peace she had ever felt since she was driven out of Berry Town only three days ago. Unfortunately, that peace was shattered when Sabiya tripped over her.

"Ow!" the Pikachu cried. "What the hell?!"

"Are you okay?" Flower asked.

"No," Vespera replied, sitting up. "That hurt."

"You're a...a...V-V-Vul..." Sabiya stammered.

"Vulpix? Yes," Vespera nodded. "No, I'm not one of Ninetales' followers. That bastard dirtied the name of his entire race by killing the leaders. That's why I'll over throw him one day."

"Wait! You're a...rebel?" Sabiya asked.

"Yes, I guess you could call me a rebel. Why?" Vespera asked. "Are you with that traitor of a Fire-type?"

"Nope! I'm against him, too!" Sabiya said.

"Me, too!" Flower cried.

"Thank goodness," the Vulpix sighed. "Hey, you wouldn't mind if I joined you, right? Being alone is...lonely."

"Sure, why not? I'm trying to raise up a rebel army to station a base in Jade City." Sabiya said. "Why don't we all head there?"

"Sure," Vespera nodded.

"Let's go!" Flower cried.

.o.o.o.o.

Mikela the Skitty was skipping through Fiery Field, singing about pudding.

.o.o.o.o.

Captain Nayan's forces, after their forced march to the palace, almost collapsed once they got there. The ones that couldn't fly, at any rate. Almost. They were a bit afraid of the consequences that would be gifted onto them by their Captain potentially to do that. He awaited for a call, and assumed Commander Syr and Captain Arcanine would be showing up in just a bit.

Commander Syr's forces were high above Nayan's troops, and as Captain Arcanine arrived, they swooped down.

Captain Nayan gave a curt nod to them in the air- an awkward maneuver- before flitting back down the gate, awaiting their entry.

The Houndoom at the gates called to the Kabutops to open them.

The Golbat impatiently flew through the gates while they were opening; he did, however, wait for the gates to fully open, when others could go in.

Syr and Arcanine followed, their forces dutifully following.

Captain Nayan again continued to the throne room, prostrating himself before his lord , his soldiers behind him doing the same, though more gracefully for most of them. He awaited for Commander Syr to account what had happened to their lord Ninetales; after all, he was of a higher rank.

"Well, I trust everything went alright," Ninetales commented as Rell clambered up beside the blood-colored fox on his pedestal.

"It did, my Lord. The rebels were all killed, and the innocents were warned by the means of impaling the Nidorino's body on a tree outside the village," Syr explained.

"Well done. You will all feast tonight," Ninetales praised, winding one of his tails around a sculpted dragon head on his pedestal.

For a fleeting moment, Captain Nayan felt a bit frustrated. He had killed the Nidorino personally, and he had given the idea of impaling it as a warning, had he not? Had not the death of the leader been the beginning of the end for the rebellion?

But these feelings passed. Even if his personal achievements weren't told, he felt great to have labored for the sake of Ninetales.

And a feast sounded pretty good.

"Is there anything more?" Ninetales asked.

"Yes, my lord," Arcanine spoke up. "I met a Meowth nearby the village that told me about a rebel against you. A Pikachu with an emerald necklace."

"Interesting," Ninetales commented, examining his claws. "Very well. You may all go."

The Golbat indulged in another clumsy bow to the Ninetales, before slowly flapping up and leaving the throne room. "What was that about a feast, again?" he asked.

"Downstairs, in the dining hall," Syr responded.

Captain Arcanine led the way down to the large black hall, the long table laden with various meats, fruits for some, and what looked like a bloody carcass at one part.

"Excellent," said the Golbat as he flapped past the bloody body. "I may have to partake in that, actually..."

Not much, of course. He had quite a bit of the blood of the Mankey, the Nidorino, and those rebels from earlier...

Arcanine sat himself at the table, looking hungrily at a large steak.

The Golbat searched for a moment, in vain. No convenient overhang was near enough to the especially bloody meat for him to take easy advantage of it. Shuffling over on his wings, he still did not dare to grumble about that. No, he was going to enjoy the meal set out for him!

Ninetales entered the Dining Hall, Rell trailing behind him. Seating himself at the head of the table, the blood colored fox looked at all of the assembled Pokemon. "Well, go ahead." He smirked.

Nayan obliged, and set his fangs to the meat in front of him, draining some of the blood dripping off of the meat. Fairly fresh, sort of thick. Some sort of seasoning was in it. Very rich. The Golbat stopped to let others enjoy the meat; he was full now, and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to fly with much more, anyway. His Noctowl were happy to rip into the bloody meat after he'd finished, and his other followers enjoyed the various meats and plants spread before them, in accordance to their diets.

Arcanine's forces dug in, while the fire dog helped himself to the steak that he had been eyeing. Syr stripped at the bloody meat as well as the Noctowl, while his forces helped themselves to seeds and berries.

Captain Nayan was curious at how their Lord didn't seem to be joining in the meal. He decided against commenting on the matter, instead watching a Parasect opposite and to the right of him awkwardly trying to shell a seed to the point where it could nibble on it. Somewhat interesting to watch, even as the three birds around him ripped into the meat.

"You know, I was reading the most intriguing scroll today," Ninetales commented.

"Really? What about, my Lord?" Arcanine asked.

"Yes, my Lord?" asked the Golbat Captain. The Pokemon under his control immediately paused eating and looked to their leader, and swiftly to their leader's leader- or, rather, the Ninetales.

"It was about a leader in another realm, a fictional one. He knew that all of his officers were planning to kill him, and so he invited them to dinner." Ninetales smiled slightly. "And that got me thinking. Because all of his officers died after that meal."

"Thinking about what, my Lord?" Syr asked, munching on a piece of meat.

"Well, poison."

"... Poison, my Lord?" inquired the Golbat.

He didn't like this turn in the conversation... Most especially not right now. He didn't believe that his employer had tried to poison him, of course, but it was an awkward topic, to say the least.

Perhaps he was talking about the type.

"Poison, in the food," Ninetales' grin widened.

Arcanine, about to take a bite out of another steak, suddenly stopped. He felt his fur stand on end.

"... Alright. We plan to kill the rebels through poisoning their food, my Lord?" asked the Golbat.

He'd locked up a little, for just a moment, but his trust in Ninetales was too great to be suspicious for much more than a fleeting thought. Beyond that, being a Golbat, he had incredible resistance to toxins, anyway.

"...Oh, only you fell for it, Captain? What a pity..." Ninetales shook his head.

Arcanine managed to choke out. "Th- The- The food's not poisoned, is it?"

"No, no, no, silly! Commander Syr was in on it, though. Curses, Nayan, you didn't even blink!" Ninetales began chuckling, and Arcanine looked slightly relieved.

"No, I've laced the food with pepper," Ninetales sniggered.

Nayan grinned inwardly. Outwardly grinning was rather...strenuous, for him, and disturbing for others, considering how his mouth was a very flexible structure several feet tall. "I thought I detected some sort of spice in the blood. A most excellent jest, my Lord."

The look on Captain Arcanine's face had been entirely priceless, Nayan had to admit...as had been the reactions of the overwhelming majority of his own soldiers, including the two Noctowl. They had apparently flown right into each other in a panic and knocked their heads against each other, and were lying dazed on the table. Some laughter commenced, especially from the Mankey-heavy section of the table.

"So sorry, Arcanine," Ninetales chuckled. "Although, it was rather funny."

"Y-yes, very funny, my Lord," Arcanine grimaced.

Syr chuckled slightly. "It's alright, my dear Captain. It's not often we get such a bout of humor at dinner, is it?"

"No, Commander Syr. My soldiers and I rarely have an actual dinner to begin with. This is quite the treat for them, my Lord, and for that matter, myself as well," Nayan continued, this time to the Ninetales. The nervous and raucous laughter had begun to subside from them, as they set more vigorously into the food.

The two Noctowl, of course, remained out.

"Indeed, but under our Lord's rule, we will have many more dinners," Syr prophesized.

"If we prove ourselves worthy, and our Lord sees to it to be so, then most certainly," agreed Captain Nayan.

"And I would. I always wish to reward my officers for their deeds," Ninetales agreed.

Captain Nayan gave a slight rising off his lower jaw, and curved it oddly. It might have been considered a smile. Maybe.

"Long life to our Lord!" he cheered.

Of course, that was more or less a given, seeing how he was a Ninetales.

"Long life to our Lord!" Arcanine called out as well, Syr following the example.

Ninetales smiled modestly, then yawned. "Well, carry on, comrades. I need my rest. Come along, Rell." Ninetales rose from his seat, Rell following obediently behind the blood colored fox as he departed.

Captain Nayan gave another inward grin. It felt wonderful to serve such a great master. He would allot some more time for his Pokemon to finish the peppered food. In the meantime, he prodded the Noctowl draped over the bloody meat. He felt that perhaps Commander Syr might wish some more, and it wouldn't do to have them there... Of course, he didn't want to harm them, either. They were some of his best soldiers.

Syr, as it transpired, was talking to one of the Mankey of Captain Nayan's forces.

Captain Nayan, of course, was a little curious as to what the conversation could be about. As the Noctowl awoke and fluttered back to their seats, embarrassed, the Golbat tried using his sensitive ears to pick out what was being said.

"...And I haven't been anywhere near Jade City, nor has anyone else, as far as I'm aware." Syr was saying.

_Jade City? What's this about Jade City? Is that Mankey from there, or something?_ thought Nayan for a moment. He'd never really talked much with his soldiers about those sorts of things.

Come to think of it, he hadn't heard much about the state of Berry Town's forests in a while, or the other areas where his family lived. Just what little smidges he could gather from his nephew's conversation with him, while he had been visiting him to grasp a bit of life under the service of Ninetales.

"The rebels could be trying to hide there." Syr commented.

Rebels? In Jade City, of all places?

_Surely not,_ Nayan thought.

"I would fly over there to check it out, but I might upset the townsfolk." Syr chuckled.

Shaking his head, Captain Nayan went over to Captain Arcanine. "Tell me, have you heard anything of the state of affairs in Berry Town? Or Silver City? Whichever one, if you know either."

He tried not to exhibit any mirth; the Captain's fur still looked a little puffed up after what had occurred with the 'poison' incident.

"Berry Town is well, nothing has happened. Silver City has had a quick burst of rebellion, which was crushed by the soldiers there," Captain Arcanine told him, his fur still slightly on end.

"Hm, well, alright," sighed the Golbat, his vague sense of worry fluttering away. It had been a long while since he'd checked on his family... "Well, thank you for the information."

"Worried, Nayan?" Captain Arcanine asked.

"I have…a fair bit of family around the area. We have become a very successful group of Pokemon, indeed," mentioned Captain Nayan. "You know, before our Lord's reign began, we lived only in small colonies of the caverns right near the Shadow Fields, the only area where we hadn't really been effectively wiped out. Berry Town's forests and the Silver City exit of the Silver Mines are now the main areas of our population. I just wanted to know if they were faring well," he said, somewhat wistfully.

"My family is gone," Arcanine commented. "I never knew them. My Lord saved me, he took me in, as a pup. He's like a father to me."

"A very admirable thing to do. How anyone can oppose the Lord in his compassion, I do not know."

"And they say our Lord is cruel..." Arcanine muttered. "When none of them would take in a starving Growlithe, lost in the cold winter nights."

"And where the previous leaders eliminated infant Zubat because they felt a minor, passing annoyance wasn't worth the life of another Pokemon, our Lord lets us grow strong. The only Pokemon we drain to kill are criminals and rebels. We have prospered, where once we were slaughtered. Indeed, Lord Ninetales is a most compassionate being." Nayan agreed.

"Those bastards," Arcanine murmured. He yawned. "Well, I'm off to bed as well."

Kenward finished off his steak, trying to get his mind off of the poison joke. He had honestly been scared. "I'll head to bed, too. That pepper was actually pretty good," the Charmeleon commented. "Night, guys!"

"It was a pleasure to talk to you," said Captain Nayan, before flapping away.

.o.o.o.o.

"It's getting dark," Sabiya commented. "We'll have to stay here for the night."

"I'll keep watch," Vespera volunteered.

"Thanks," the Pikachu said. "Let's get some sleep, Flower."

"Okay," the Eevee nodded, yawning.

The two young Pokemon fell fast asleep, leaving the Vulpix to watch over them. Stars began to glitter in the sky above and moonlight turned the flowers of Fiery Field a brilliant silver color. Vespera sighed, looking up at the moon as a soft wind blew through her fur.

"Jade City," she muttered. "That's probably the perfect place for rebels to hide. Ninetales won't touch the city. I wonder why?"

Mikela the Skitty skipped through Fiery fields and tripped over the Pikachu.

Sabiya yelped, bolting upright. "Who's there?!"

Vespera whirled around, spotting the Skitty. "It's just a Skitty." she said.

"What are you doing up so late, kid?" the Pikachu asked.

Flower continued to snooze, unaware of what was going on around her.

"HIYA~!" Mikela giggled.

"Hi?" Sabiya replied.

"Kid, shouldn't you get back to your family or something? Being out in the open like this at night isn't a good idea." Vespera said. "You could get hurt."

"HIYA~!" Mikela sang, hopping around.

"...I don't think she heard you, Vespera." Sabiya said.

"Hey!" the Vulpix barked. "Don't you have somewhere to be, kid? Or are you lost?"

"I'm HAPPY~!" Mikela sang.

"...Either she's lost or she was thrown from her family." Vespera deducted.

"Hey, kid? What's your name?" Sabiya asked.

"I'm MIKELA~!" Mikela sang.

"I'm Sabiya. This is Vespera and Flower." the Pikachu introduced. "Are you lost? What are you doing out here, aside from being happy."

"I'm just really HAPPY~!" Mikela sang. "I've been being HAPPY~!"

"...Maybe she doesn't know?" Sabiya suggested.

"Maybe," Vespera nodded. "Look, Mikela, do you want to stay with us until morning?"

"I'll stay with YOU~!" Mikela sang.

"Then you better get some sleep, Mikela." Sabiya said. "We're doing a lot of traveling tomorrow."

"Agreed," Vespera nodded. "I'll keep watch...again."

"Fine by me," the Pikachu said, yawning.

"OKAY~!" Mikela sang.

.o.o.o.o.

Up in his sleeping quarters, Ninetales looked out over the vast realm he commanded. The stars were beautiful tonight. Shaking his blood-colored head, the fox walked down the black stairs, out of the gate, and into the night. Rell would not accompany him through this journey...

.o.o.o.o.

Captain Nayan found a suitable niche on a high ceiling for him to stay at, and deeply wafted in the scent of encrusted blood around him, before drifting off to sleep. Well, for a moment, anyway. He'd trained himself to wake up after short naps throughout the day, so that there was no major time where he and his troops could be vulnerable. Besides, as it was the night, it was harder to sleep, anyway. It wasn't long before he was back up, flitting through the halls for lack of a better thing to do. During this time, he ended up encountering the Charmeleon.

"Hmm?"

"Oh. Hey, Captain Nayan." Kenward greeted. "Can't sleep. What're you doing up? Even Golbat need to sleep and you were busy most of the day."

"Yes, perhaps. I've gotten to where I get my sleep in many cycles throughout the day, however. And you are Captain..? I'm sorry, but I don't believe I've caught your name."

"Kenward," the Charmeleon replied. "Not surprised to hear you don't know me. I'm usually tracking the backstabbing thief, Psiren, around for info on the rebels. I'm rarely ever here, actually."

"Ah, so you're the one who follows Psiren around? I never did like that cat, always gives our information away as easily as it does to the other side... As for me, I'm Captain Nayan. Fairly new instatement, I've mainly been patrolling those Stormcrash Ruins for any of the scum hiding out there, though I helped to take down a rebellion in Skywing just today."

He decided not to come off as too prideful and boast about how he took down the leader of that rebellion.

"Yeah, I heard about the Skywing rebellion. You stuck their leader on a branch or something, right? Sucks to be him. Luckily, he's dead." Kenward commented. "Tracking Psiren isn't easy. I can't believe we've got to pay her just to keep her services to Lord Ninetales!"

"Impaled him, yes. More than that, I killed him in the first place! A coward at his death, trying to flee. The lock had rusted up," chuckled Captain Nayan. "But that's got to be a difficult and thankless job for you. You probably have a large number of I under your control to cover that sort of ground and track... I have twenty, do you mind telling me how many soldiers you have?"

"Almost thirty," Kenward replied. "Psiren's never in the same place. She's always on the move, so I have to have my troops search everywhere for her."

"Ah. My twenty are mainly suited to trapping and immobilizing I they find in the rebels, as opposed to finding them. I have two Noctowl for that purpose of finding the I in the ruins to trap, along with myself. I believe that they're nearly material for captain. In fact, they were instrumental in helping Commander Syr's forces distract the guards long enough for Captain Arcanine and the rest of my forces to get into the Skywing area. They are a bit...excitable, though. I assume you saw the little spectacle during that dinner? The both of them knocked their heads in flight, when they heard about the 'poison'."

"Yeah, I saw that. Scared the hell out of me when he said that, though," Kenward said. "But Arcanine's face was hilarious!"

"It was NOT," Arcanine growled, coming up behind the two.

"Most certainly. I talked to him later, he was still fluffed up with his fur! I never knew him to be so jumpy. That was quite the jest, as I said to our Lord. Incidentally, have you been near the forests of Berry Town, recently?"

The Golbat hadn't realized the Arcanine was behind him until right after this statement.

"Er, Captain Arcanine! Hello today. How was that pepper?"

"It was fine." Arcanine growled. "A bit. Spicy."

"Um, hi?" Kenward greeted, chuckling nervously. He took a step back from Arcanine. "As for Berry Town, I was there this morning. Why?"

"Just wanted to know if you'd met with any of my kind, if they seemed alright," Captain Nayan said.

"I come from there, you know. A very nice place to live, provided it's the denser areas. I'm glad you enjoyed the seasoning, Captain," he ended, turning to the Arcanine. "That was good work earlier today, on those barricades. I hope that my soldiers weren't much of a trouble"?

"No, not at all. They responded well to my orders, and since the rebels were fleeing, it was pretty easy." Arcanine smiled.

"They'd better have. I don't tolerate disorder among my soldiers, you know. It weakens them, is what I've always said. Thank you, Captain." Nayan said.

"I saw a bunch of Zubat in the tree line," Kenward commented. "They all looked okay to me. One actually tried to bite me."

Turning back to the Charmeleon, the Golbat chuckled a bit.

"Don't mind those ones. We try to avoid I doing duty for our Lord. Biting them, I mean, but I suppose some may not have learned their kids' manners. Just state that you're working in the service of our Lord and they'll go away, or at least that's what I was taught to do when a soldier or someone said that to me. Of course, there's not always a choice, but enough rebels get around those parts that we don't normally have to resort to leeching soldiers and such. My apologies on the matter."

"It's okay. They missed." Kenward said. "Hey, do you think a single I is a threat to Lord Ninetales' rule?"

"In what way? One I can certainly mess around with the order of the rule, but I don't believe any particular one can take it down, no. Well, perhaps a legend could. Some of them. I'm not sure..." murmured the Golbat for a moment, "But surely our Lord's reign is approved by the legends, or else why would he rule?"

"Psiren is supposed to give me intel on rebellions." Kenward explained. "This time, she only warned me of a lone Pikachu crossing the Granite Desert. Weird, right? A Pikachu can't take us down."

"No, how could it? Any ground type could flatten such a creature! Almost every I could, actually. They're such scrawny little things. Just have a big shock, and if you can deal with that, they're dead." Nayan replied.

Arcanine snorted with disdain. "I myself received news of this same Pikachu from a Meowth near Skywing Village. How I wish I could grind her bones into powder and then fuse them into glass shards."

"That much effort on such a little thing would glorify the rebels cause too much, I would think," stated Captain Nayan. "I personally just use them as a little blood snack. The rest of them goes to the carnivores in my group."

"What cause? I believe the rebels are simply obnoxious youths who cannot find any justification for wishing our Lord to drop dead." Arcanine said matter-of-factly.

"What cause? Indeed. You pinned that one down," agreed Captain Nayan. "Such a stupid group, throwing their future away for the purpose of throwing away their future. Their lives are ruined, even if their wretched dreams were to come true."

"Indeed. If they could come up for a reason for the destruction of our Lord, then I would eat Jossar." Arcanine paused for a moment. "Well, that wouldn't be too difficult. He's kinda small. No, I'd eat a Feraligatr."

"Feh. They have their little reasons, they all do, I'd say. But they are selfish reasons, they are reasons that make no sense. Our Lord would welcome them if they hadn't dedicated themselves to the downfall of our Lord, but they are blinded, and so struggle, harming others. Like the Pidgeot Elder of Skywing, who was imprisoned and later released by us for his faith in our Lord." Nayan pointed out.

"That poor bird. I wonder what would have happened if their plan had succeeded? Would he have been killed? Is that their dream?" Captain Arcanine wondered.

"They had the place barricaded down, as you remember, no one was going to be getting in and out of there. They would have starved themselves and everyone else, had it gone on long enough, would they not? None of our loyalists were out for fear of what would happen; I think it safe to say that he would have been executed, the monsters. Ah, but it is their leader up in the sky, skewered for all to see. Justice." Nayan replied.

"Indeed. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bed. Good night, Captain Nayan." Arcanine yawned and walked further off down the corridor.

"I needed to fit another moment of sleep in, anyway. It has been a stressful day. I hope you don't mind, Captain?" Nayan said to the Charmeleon Captain, before flapping up to an overhang above. "It was a delightful conversation."

"No problem. I'll see if I can catch a little shut-eye, too." Kenward headed off to his quarters for the night.

Captain Nayan again woke up after a short stint of sleep, and flapped to elsewhere in the palace.

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales was about to head back in through the gate when a barrage of Embers hit him in the head. "What the hell?" He demanded.

"Intruder!" The Houndoom howled at the top of the gate. "INTRUDER!"

As Captain Nayan picked up the cries of 'intruder', he rushed towards the gate. He was quite surprised to see the red Ninetales he had known as his lord at the scene, at the bottom of the gate and with apparent marks from an attack.

"What is going on here?" Nayan demanded from the Houndoom.

Kenward snapped awake upon hearing shouts of "Intruder! Intruder!" and dashed out of his room. Reaching the front gates, he readied to fight.

"Come out and fight, coward!" he cried. "Are you okay, Lord Ninetales?"

"Intruder-" The Houndoom broke off as Ninetales snarled.

"Shut up you fool! It's ME!" He lashed his many tails in frustration.

"Wh- Oh, my Lord, forgive me!" The Houndoom bowed his head in embarrassment.

"I'm not in a good mood," Ninetales snapped. "Now get out of my way and open the gate before I break every bone in your body."

The Houndoom nodded and dashed off.

The Golbat flapped up in a bad temper, off to elsewhere. What had that been about?!

"So you mean...there was no intruder?" Kenward asked, suddenly embarrassed.

"No, it was this fool trying to be _helpful_." Ninetales growled.

Captain Nayan went back for the moment; for an idea had struck him. "My Lord? Would you mind if I were to move my soldiers over to the ruins, to look over them? I think that perhaps more of them may have exposed themselves in the area while we were withdrawn from the area."

"Yes, go ahead, do whatever you want." Ninetales growled, his fur standing on end.

Captain Nayan hastily went to gather his soldiers to leave; he did not want to stick around, in case his Lord's anger were to grow.

"Um...I'm just going to...go back to bed now. Night?" Kenward slunk away, truly embarrassed about the whole incident.

.o.o.o.o.

Vespera sighed, turning to look at her three new companions. _Who'd have thought that there were still Pokemon in this world that would accept me despite how a majority of my race is in league with that bastard of a lord? I'm glad. Now I'm no longer alone._

Sabiya yawned, her ears twitching as she struggled to wake up. "Morning yet?"

"Soon, I think. Should we get moving?" the Vulpix asked.

"Yeah. Better sooner than later." Sabiya nudged Flower and Mikela. "Time to wake up, sleepyheads. We got to go soon."

"Nnn?" Flower blinked tiredly, sitting up. "Huh? Who's this?" She looked at Mikela curiously.

"She popped up last night after we were all asleep." Sabiya explained, stretching. "Her name's Mikela. Wake her up so we can eat and get out of here."

"You have food?" Vespera asked.

"Yeah, but not much," the Pikachu replied, pulling out a few assorted berries and seeds. "Eat up, you guys. We've got a lot of ground to cover today if we want to reach Jade City."

"I'm AWAKE~!" Mikela sang, jumping around.

"Hi, Mikela! I'm Flower!" Flower introduced.

"Eat up fast, guys." Sabiya said, gesturing to the food she had laid out. "We've got to move far and fast."

"That traitorous Ninetales hasn't laid a single claw on Jade City, surprisingly." Vespera commented. "Some say it's because he secretly sends troops to get gold from the Karp River and doesn't want to cause an uprising. Some of the richest families live in Jade City and support him. It'll be hard to get a rebel base going there but if we control the gold, we get Jade City!"

"Hopefully, we'll find other rebels along the way." Sabiya commented. "There are only four of us. Ninetales has whole armies at his disposal. We'll need to get a lot of followers if we hope to stand up to that."

"Agreed," the Vulpix nodded. "I have friends in Silver City and Berry Town that might be able to help us. When we reach Jade City, help me find a messenger Spearow. We'll need to keep the message short and discreet. We have no idea if that traitor is checking mail or not."

"What happened to 'everyone hates you'?" the Pikachu asked, mimicking Vespera's voice.

"They were my friends before Ninetales took over. They're rebels at heart, trust me." Vespera pleaded.

"And if they rat us out?" Sabiya asked.

"..." Vespera didn't reply.

"We'll wait until we find more followers before we contact your friends, okay?" Sabiya suggested. "Just for our own safety."

"Yes, you're right." the Vulpix nodded.

Flower gnawed on an Oran Berry happily. "Mmm! This tastes great!" she cried.

"Let's eat, Vespera. We've got along ways to go." Sabiya reminded.

"Agreed," The Vulpix bit into a Rawst Berry, smiling. _I hope Sabiya is wrong about my friends. But if she's right... I will just have to wait. Wait and see..._

"This is FUN~!" Mikela shouted. "I'm a REBEL~!"

"Don't go announcing it like that, Mikela!" Sabiya warned. "Let's just say that some people don't like rebels very much and would gladly...um..."

"Throw us in prison," Vespera said.

"Yeah," Sabiya nodded. _Good save,_ she silently thanked. "If we continue to pass through Fiery Meadow, we should reach the Karp River. Follow the Karp River and we'll hit Jade City in no time."

"Yay! Let's go!" Flower cried.

The Pikachu gathered up the remaining berries and seeds from their breakfast and packed them away in her backpack. She held up her emerald necklace and smiled as it glinted in the dim sunlight. _We can do this,_ she thought._ We can be the force that brings down that corrupted Ninetales._

"That's a very lovely necklace, Sabiya. It's a wonder it hasn't been stolen yet." Vespera noted.

"I'm very...possessive about my belongings and anything I find that I like." Sabiya admitted. "It's very hard to steal my stuff without the thief gaining at least a few broken bones."

The Vulpix giggled. "I'm glad you're a rebel, Sabiya. I'd hate to face you in battle if you have that kind of strength."

"I'd never be a loyalist," the Pikachu said. "Those guys reek of evil. Yuck!"

"Hey! Are we going or not?" Flower asked.

"Yes, we're going! Let's move, guys!" Sabiya cried.

Sabiya led the way as the small group cross the field of red and orange flowers. Vespera followed behind the Pikachu, leaving Flower to keep Mikela company as they crossed the field.

A Cyndaquil was sitting in the path of where the group was walking, and he perked up at the mention of rebels. "Oh. What's this now?" He asked, looking at the group.

Sabiya stopped upon seeing the Cyndaquil. She fell into an attack stance, ready to fight if necessary.

"Sabiya, calm down." Vespera warned. The Vulpix stayed out of sight, not wanting the Cyndaquil to panic if he saw her. "He hasn't done anything to us."

"Hi!" Flower greeted.

"Rebels, are you?" The Cyndaquil asked.

"Yeah, we're REBELS~!" Mikela sang.

"Oho. How funny. What do you wish to accomplish, by being rebels? Oh, of course. You wish to knock Lord Ninetales off his throne, and one of you arrogant little whelps would take the throne instead? Bringing _peace. _But how can a mere Vulpix, Pikachu, Eevee, or Skitty hope to command the legions of soldiers under Ninetales? Simple. You can't." The Cyndaquil stated.

Sabiya growled. "It won't just be us! We're going to raise up an army and-"

"Sabiya, stop! Don't let him egg you on!" Vespera barked. She glared at the Cyndaquil. "Back off or else, mouse."

"But what good would it do?" The Cyndaquil asked, tilting his head to the side. "What good would come of killing Ninetales? He has done many good things."

"Oh, _so_ many _good_ things, you say?" Sabiya mocked. "Is ripping apart families a good thing? How about kidnapping citizens in Silver City and forcing them to slave away their lives in the mines to dig for ore? Maybe killing anyone who even _mentions_ going against Ninetales? Oh, yes, those are all such _good_ things!"

"But those are bad things." Flower commented.

"Exactly!" Sabiya cried. "I see nothing good about him! He's pure evil! He _murdered_ our previous leaders without a care!"

"And he gave his own race a terrible name," Vespera added. "Vulpix and Ninetales both."

"What about the lost ones?" The Cyndaquil countered. "The Captain. The Commander. Both would have died without his generosity. He does not kill needlessly. The Zubat, Golbat in Shadow Fields- He saved them. Gave them a new home. You are all pathetic. The old leaders were a bunch of squabbling old senators. And you four- You would kill all who supported him. How is that any better?"

"But of course." The Cyndaquil let out an amused sigh. "You say you're butchering all of his followers for a greater cause. What cause? You have _none._"

"You little basta-" Sabiya snarled.

"Don't, Sabiya! He's trying to rile us up on purpose!" Vespera said. She turned her attention back to the Cyndaquil. "We're doing what's _right_. The old leaders never killed without reason and didn't imprison those who criticized them. Maybe the lost ones are thriving now but what about everyone else? You can't even cross Evergreen City without being questioned by a dozen of Ninetales' soldiers!"

"You just watch," the Pikachu warned. "The next time you're in grave danger and beg Ninetales for help, he won't even bat an eye. If you aren't benefitting him somehow, he doesn't give a Rattata's ass about you."

"Hahahahaaa!" The Cyndaquil laughed uproariously. "See! See! You would kill all of his supporters for just the _rightness_. What is right about killing those who would follow him?"

"And you are the ones who give Ninetales a bad name. You are the ones. Not him. And you ignore all the good, just in order to support your foolish quests! If there _really_ was something wrong with Ninetales, there would be _NO _good things about him. But there is. So you are all antagonistic fools that can't see a forest for some trees. You are the evil ones. And I intend to make sure you all get what you deserve." With that, the Cyndaquil turned and began hobbling toward the Onyx Palace.

"No! Don't let him get away!" Vespera cried.

"Take this, asshole!" Sabiya unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt upon the fleeing Cyndaquil.

The Cyndaquil dodged and continued hobbling, calling out. "See! You want to kill me for being loyal!"

"We're not trying to kill you, damn it!" Sabiya shouted, using another Thunderbolt.

"Forget it! He's too far away now." Vespera said.

"Now what?! He'll rat us out!" the Pikachu cried.

"We take an alternate course to our destination." the Vulpix suggested. "We don't go directly to you-know-where."

"Oh," Sabiya nodded. "Got it. Let's go!"

"Mikela, this way!" Flower cried, following Sabiya and Vespera as they changed course.

"Oh, you mean JADE CITY~?" Mikela yelled.

"No!" Sabiya replied firmly. "We're going to STONE TOWN, remember?! You must have heard wrong!"

"No, JADE CITY~!" Mikela sang.

Vespera pulled up alongside Mikela. "We have to change course because of that Cyndaquil. We're going to Stone Town now and Jade City later, okay?"

"Just agree with us, Mikela!" Sabiya said.

"Okay~! JADE CITY~!" Mikela sang.

"...You know what? Forget it." Sabiya sighed. "Let's just go to Jade City and pray we beat any loyalist troops there."

"Sure," Vespera said. "If that Cyndaquil heard, he already knows Jade City is where we want to go."

"Let's just pray he didn't hear," the Pikachu said.

"With our luck, it's unlikely that he didn't hear us," the Vulpix replied.

"Fuck," Sabiya cursed.

Once again, the group changed course and resumed their dash across Fiery Meadow to reach Jade City. They still had a long ways to go, though.

.o.o.o.o.

Kenward got up and yawned, ready to work. Hopping out of bed, the Charmeleon headed toward the front gates. "I wonder if my job will ever change from chasing that damn neutralist criminal?" he grumbled.

.o.o.o.o.

Captain Nayan's troops, after a long, stumbling march in the dark, managed to reach the Stormcrash Ruins. They were prepared to slaughter any rebel Pokemon walking about, thinking it was safe... Provided, of course, that they could actually stay awake.

Captain Nayan and his Noctowl returned to patrolling the skies of Stormcrash, if flying perhaps lower than usual; they were very full, after all.

His many Pokemon spread out over the city grounds, patrolling for any signs of any Pokemon other than themselves. There was no reason for a loyalist Pokémon to be present, after all, other than to hunt out rebels; a job already taken by his groups. That left merely the fractured rebel groups and criminals, not that Captain Nayan could see much difference between the two.

.o.o.o.o.

Kanika and Nicolo watched Captain Nayan's troops leave, scared out of their wits. The rebel pair had just barely escaped detection.

"Should we get out of here, Nic?" Kanika asked, her feathers pressed flat against her body.

"Yeah," the Poochyena nodded. "Go slow and stay hidden. We don't want to catch their attention."

"Okay," the Starly said.

Together, the pair began to creep out of Stormcrash Ruins.

.o.o.o.o.

Captain Nayan flitted about, echo-locating as his soldiers went over the ground, stumbling in the dark- the ones that depended on their eyes, anyway.

Meanwhile, a Noctowl spotted some rather curious movement. Signaling to his counterpart and his Captain, he flitted down to check out where Kanika and Nicolo had just gone, making sure to listen as well as rely on his sensitive eyes.

.o.o.o.o.

Nicolo gasped and shoved Kanika behind a rock. "Shhh!" he hissed.

"Huh?" the Starly squeaked.

"Don't move!" the Poochyena hissed. "Don't make any noise!"

Both rebels remained behind the rock, praying that the Noctowl wouldn't spot them.

.o.o.o.o.

The Noctowl flitted down to just where they had been. He glanced around. There were small marking on the dust on the ground... Trampled, weak. He couldn't tell where they led to, but he didn't trust them to be too old to bother checking out.

"I need to get some more soldiers over here... Would Captain Nayan approve that measure? Perhaps not, already the Mankey and Paras are about around here... I suppose I can just watch over the place until one of them walks around this segment of the ruins."

With that, the Noctowl settled into place, scanning over the area the best he could. Of course, he couldn't see what was behind the large boulder, but there weren't many places to go beyond that.

.o.o.o.o.

"Now what?!" Kanika hissed.

"We wait," Nicolo replied. "He's got to leave sooner or later."

"And if he doesn't? Nic, he could _eat_ us!" the Starly whimpered.

"He won't eat us. He would bring us to Ninetales for interrogation...or he would kill us on the spot." the Poochyena replied.

"That doesn't help!" Kanika whined.

"Shhh! Keep it down!" Nic yelped, clapping his paws over Kanika's beak.

.o.o.o.o.

"Hmm?"

The Noctowl moved a bit closer to the rock. He'd definitely heard something... Didn't see anyone, though. Probably behind the large block of material that had fallen from a nearby building, but there was no way he was gearing himself up for a potential ambush by going behind there.

"You! What are you, and what are you doing?" he demanded. It might be another one of Captain Nayan's soldiers, for all he knew.

.o.o.o.o.

"Nic, now what?! He knows we're here!" Kanika whimpered.

"I...I don't know. Just...follow my lead, okay?" Nicolo pleaded. With horrid reluctance, the Poochyena stepped out from behind the rock to confront the Noctowl. "Um...hi?"

"Nic, what are you doing?!" the Starly hissed. "You'll be killed!"

"You're one of Captain Nayan's soldiers, right?" Nicolo asked, ignoring his companion. "I'm Nicolas of Silver City. My friend and I were chased out here by a couple of thieves and we're terribly lost. Could you tell us where we are? Though, the high number of what I guess are rebels kinda gives me an idea..." _Come on, you dumb bird. Fall for it and let us go!_

"Oh, really? Great. Little pooch, and whoever your friend is- I heard, I know- you still need to stay for us. After all, we need to know what these thieves looked like, yeah? Send you back to Silver City, too," said the Noctowl, glaring right at the Poochyena.

He felt more confident right then; after all, he wasn't going to be ambushed by a Poochyena in plain sight, and whoever its buddy was probably wouldn't be all that strong. Beyond all that, he knew some of his fellows were coming in as well.

"Oh, thank you so much! Kanika, you can come out! We're saved!" Nicolo cried.

The Starly hesitantly came out, staying behind the Poochyena. "Yay...?" she squeaked.

"Please ignore her, sir," Nic said. "She's scared out of her wits of your kind. Please don't take any offense."

The Noctowl made sure to take note of the fact that his companion was a Starly, and one who looked alright for flying, as well.

_And they expect me to believe that they were lost, when she could just go up and scan around at any time? I suppose I may as well play along for the moment, though._

At that moment, the two Paras under Captain Nayan's command came by, a waddling Gloom leading them around. The Noctowl gave a short, chirping call, and the Gloom stopped suddenly, before dashing over, the Paras scuttling as fast as they could to catch up.

"Ah, see here, just don't let the two get away if they get antsy. We need to question them about a 'thief' that apparently chased them here."

"Nic, I'm scared," Kanika whispered. "What do we do if they figure us out?"

"Just deny everything," Nic replied. "Remember. We're just innocent civilians who got lost and were chased by a thief. Keep to that story and we'll be just fine."

"Okay," the Starly nodded, still afraid.

"... You two do know that I can hear very well, correct?" said the Noctowl.

Kanika glared at Nic with an 'I-told-you-so' look. Nic smiled nervously. _Oops,_ he thought.

"Enough with stories. Why are you here, and what is a good reason for me not to rip your guts out and eat them in front of you while you watch?"

"Eek!" Kanika cried, diving behind Nic.

"Okay, you want the truth? Fine!" Nic barked. "We weren't chased here by thieves. We came here by ourselves. We got turned around and lost our way. Happy?"

"No. Obviously, you know where this place is, or else you wouldn't have made a story about why you'd be here, because this area's rather famous for being infested with rebels and crooks, very dangerous and if you get caught you get killed, most of the time. You made that fabrication to make yourself appear more innocent; you not doing something supportive of our Lord here or lost, or otherwise you wouldn't have made that little story up. It's very difficult to 'just stumble' on these darkened ruins, and not realize where you are. The place is striking. So tell me, are you rebels, or are you two just criminals?"

"Um..." Nic glanced at Kanika, then back at the Noctowl. "...Can we pick 'C', neutral?"

"There are no grounds for being neutral. Either you are with our lord, you are against our lord, or you are exploiting the subjects of our lord or our lord himself. What is your explanation for this? Bear in mind that there is no way to escape from here; so much as move the wrong way, and this Gloom and these Paras here will gladly stun you. Right?"

They nodded, or gave the equivalent of a nod anyway.

Nic looked at Kanika with fear. He was almost certain they were about to escape without any trouble. Looks like the Poochyena was wrong.

_Note to self: Don't lie to Ninetales' troops,_ Nic thought. "I guess we only have one option left, huh, Kanika?"

"Do we have to?" the Starly squeaked.

"May as well," Nic muttered. "...RUN!"

The pair instantly split up, Kanika taking to the air and Nic running away.

"Tsk." _There is no hope for escape in these streets, not for them._ The Noctowl took off after the little Starly, easily beginning to catch up, his fellow Noctowl finally getting around to joining them.

"Captain! There is a Poochyena rebel on the ground!" the one Noctowl said to the Golbat once he caught notice of him beginning to follow. The Noctowl immediately restarted pursuing the Starly, the other Noctowl already closing in.

Meanwhile, Captain Nayan swept down towards the Poochyena, calling for his troops, who began to surround the ruins that the Poochyena was running in.

Kanika flew as fast as she could, tears springing to her dark eyes as the larger birds easily caught up to her. _I'm gonna die! They'll eat me, rip me apart! I don't wanna die yet! I should've never left home!_

Nic turned, snarling. "If running won't work, then I'll fight you, you dumb-" He realized it was Captain Nayan chasing him now. "Definitely not a bird!" he yelped, resuming his running. _Fuuuuuck! When did Captain Nayan get back?! Wait! That means... Kanika! Shit!_

.o.o.o.o.

The two Noctowl had the little Starly surrounded. Quickly, they batted at her with their wings powerfully, and grabbed at her with their talons- not very comfortable at all, but they weren't tearing her apart. Awkwardly, they flew down, keeping her captive in their talons and the wind current. "You'll survive for the moment, we'll be wanting to talk to you, little bird..." hissed the Noctowl that had been the one previously talking to her and Nic.

.o.o.o.o.

The Golbat kept forward in his pursuit of the Poochyena. He wasn't exactly aerodynamic, but the weight of the blood he'd taken that night along with his powerful wings were helping him close in.

"Poochyena, you can stop, or I will make this lethal for you and your friend!" he called out, noticing that his Noctowl had gotten the Starly.

"Nic! Help!" Kanika screamed, trying to wriggle loose but failing. "Nic!"

The Poochyena came to a stop, glaring at the Noctowl before facing Captain Nayan. "...Grrr! Fine! You win!" he growled. "We give up..."

"Nic," the Starly squeaked sadly.

"Now, we will move you all to the residence of our lord. Normally, we'd interrogate you on the spot," the Golbat said. Actually, normally they'd have been killed on the spot. But these two had just demonstrated to him that Pokemon would come out of the woodwork here if you left them for a little while, and who knew? Perhaps they might be able to squeeze some information out of them at the palace.

"Poochyena. You will be walking. The Starly here will not be flying. Stun!" he shouted. The Gloom tottered up towards where the Noctowl were holding down the Starly, the two Paras following somewhat more slowly. The Noctowl released their hold on the Starly- though, they remained prepared if she escaped- and the two Paras held her down with their legs, while the Gloom began to spread a Stun Spore over the area. The two Noctowl hastily flapped back, not wanting to be hindered by the paralyzing spores.

"She is to be carried by one of my Machop. You two will remain complacent. Any questions?" he asked rhetorically.

Kanika whimpered as her muscles locked up, preventing her from moving. _This can't be happening! Why?!_

Nicolo let out a low growl but made no attempt to stop the Gloom. He would only end up paralyzed. _They haven't killed us. That must mean they don't know anything about the rebels. They need information. Too bad. They'll get it out of me when I'm dead!_

One of Captain Nayan's Machop came forward, having just turned around the corner, and picked up Kanika somewhat roughly, then held her tight, in an attempt to stop any movement. He had, of course, only done this after the Noctowl blew the remaining powder away with their wings. Now, those two returned to the sky, shepherding Captain Nayan's troops together in preparation for a trip back to the palace.

"We are now moving out!" a Nuzleaf cried to his fellow soldiers.

Captain Nayan glared at Nicolo, as he flapped up to the air again.

"You are walking with us, as I said. Do not give me any reason to believe that you're better off dead than alive. You would not live long."

With that, they began marching back towards the palace, every Machop other than the one firmly carrying Kanika clustered near to the Poochyena. Perhaps a bit intimidating for the dark type; that was the intention, anyway. It also gave them an excuse to flew their muscles, so the Machop were especially pleased.

Nic growled in warning but followed, his eyes locked on Kanika's paralyzed form. _I never thought we'd get caught so quickly by Ninetales' fucking troops. This is really bad._

In response to his growl, a Machop gave him a powerful smack for a rebuke.

"No growling!" he said

They continued off to Ninetales' palace.

.o.o.o.o.

Kenward sighed, walking past the front gates of the Onyx Palace. "Stupid cat! I couldn't even find her today! Damn it!" the Charmeleon cursed. "Where could she have gone?!"

.o.o.o.o.

Cynder waddled into a depression in the Fiery Field, and looked around. "Captain Arcanine?" He asked.

Captain Arcanine was tired. Despite his long sleep that night, he was eager to get back to his hollow. With a grunt and a sigh, he jumped over a small bank- And landed on a very annoyed Cyndaquil.

"Cynder? What are you doing?" Arcanine asked, poking the fire mouse.

"Well, I came here to warn you about a group of rebels!" The Cyndaquil exclaimed, wiggling around, due to being flat on his back.

.o.o.o.o.

Sabiya panted for breath, coming to a stop. "Anyone need water?" she asked, fishing through her bag for a water bottle.

"Yes, please," Vespera replied, her tongue lolling out of her mouth from exhaustion.

"Are we there yet?" Flower asked.

"Not yet," the Pikachu replied, tossing a water bottle to Vespera. "Are you and Mikela thirsty?"

"Yes," the Eevee nodded.

Sabiya tossed her a water bottle before taking a few gulps from her own. She sighed in relief as the water cooled her off...just a bit, though. "We should be about halfway there, Flower. Once you see the Karp River in the distance, you can start running. We'll be home free then."

.o.o.o.o.

The Houndoom at the gate spotted the troops coming, and winced as he turned his neck, angering the fiery new cut on the back of his neck. He howled to the Kabutops at the top of the gate, and they swung it open.

Captain Nayan's troops marched the prisoners and themselves right in. Captain Nayan hesitated entering, though, and flew to the Houndoom. "Would you know if there's some area in this palace fit for interrogation?"

Nic yelped but quieted down. _So they need at least one of us alive, if Captain Nayan's earlier comment meant anything,_ he thought.

Kanika closed her eyes, praying in vain to wake up back in the cave she and Nic had been hiding in before going to Stormcrash Ruins. When she opened her eyes, she sobbed. _We're going to die!_

"West wing. You'll find everything you need. Do you want me to send for the Listener?" The Houndoom asked.

"It's not worth the effort to get the Listener over. We're just passing the time until some more probably think it's safe to get out; I don't think they actually have any information. Still, we might get lucky," said the Golbat, before he went to have the two marched in to the west wing of the palace.

"Yes, sir." The Houndoom nodded.

Nic looked around, trying to memorize the way so he could escape later. _Even if it's really unlikely I'll escape at all,_ he thought.

Kanika bit back a whimper, shivering in fear. _Listener? What Listener? What's going to happen to us?!_

Nic and Kanika stared at each other in fear. They knew they were going to be interrogated, but what would happen to them afterward? Would they be executed...or something much worse?

.o.o.o.o.

Sabiya sighed. "At least we can see the Karp River now," she commented. "We're nearly there."

"Finally!" Vespera cried. "I can't wait to be back in civilization again!"

"Yay!" Flower dashed around in joy. "We're almost there, Mikela! Jade City is right ahead! Hooray!"

.o.o.o.o.

Lord Ninetales wrapped one of his tails around a Charizard shaped engraving on his pedestal, sighing.

"My Lord?" A Persian entered the room, carrying a hunk of cooked meat. "You sent for me?"

"Yes, Lucy." Ninetales sank his teeth into the food, wishing he could be out doing something.

"Do you need anything else, my Lord?" Lucy meowed.

"A bit of excitement. And for my life to be shorter." Ninetales eyed the Persian, who looked horrified.

"You mustn't talk like that, my Lord! Your Lordship has the longest lifespan of any known I!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Well, if I'm going to be bored for the rest of my many long years, I might as well turn to stone and sit here covered in dust." Ninetales rolled over on his pedestal, placing a paw on his forehead tragically.

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Well, you don't need to stand there listening to me mope. You may go, Lucy." Ninetales sighed. The Persian nodded and departed.

Kenward entered the throne room, stepping aside as the Persian passed him. Approaching the throne, he bowed his head respectfully.

"My Lord, I saw Captain Nayan making his way to the interrogation room." The Charmeleon informed. "He had a Starly and a Poochyena in his custody. It's possible they're rebels. I thought it best that you knew about this."

"What? Oooh, I have to see this!" Ninetales sprang off his perch so quickly, he knocked Kenward flying as he began running.

"Whoa!" Kenward ended up being spun in circles before catching himself, nearly collapsing. "I knew he'd like to know that." He promptly fell flat on his face, dizzy.

.o.o.o.o.

"Yahoo! We made it!" Flower cried, practically diving into the cool waters of the Karp River.

"We're here at long last. Jade City," Sabiya whispered, looking at the massive city across the river. "We'll have to swim across, guys."

"I'm a Fire-type," Vespera reminded. "I can't."

"You have to! We need to get to Jade City and start building a base before Ninetales' troops realize what's happening!" the Pikachu cried.

"I can't! I'll drown!" the Vulpix argued.

"Then how about I lend you a ride, Vulpix," a voice suggested.

The trio whirled around to find a Wartortle stepping onto the bank. Her shell was covered in nicks and scratches. It was obvious she was a strong fighter. The Water-type stopped a good three feet from them.

"Why would you help us?" Sabiya asked, suspicious.

"Why not? Isn't it proper for I to lend a helping hand to each other?" the Wartortle said, smirking. "Though, I'll only help you if you help me."

"Who are you?" Sabiya demanded. "One of Ninetales' troops?!"

"What?! No way in hell!" the Wartortle growled. "The name's Jabel! I'm a rebel and I'm proud of it! What about you?"

"We're rebels, too!" Flower cried.

"I guess that means we're all in the same boat," Vespera muttered.

Sabiya sighed. "What do you want?"

"One of you can fetch me a nugget of gold from the river bottom," Jabel replied.

"You're a Water-type! Get it yourself!" Sabiya yelled.

"No gold nugget, no ride to Jade City. You, the Eevee, and the Skitty will be fine. Not your Vulpix pal, though." Jabel commented. "Take it or leave it, Pikachu."

"Grrr! ...Fine!" Sabiya snapped. "I'll get your fucking gold!"

Jabel smiled triumphantly.

Mikela skipped into the water, completely unaware of the argument.

Flower followed Mikela into the water, giggling.

Sabiya grumbled something and went into the river, taking a deep breath before diving to the bottom. Opening her eyes, she searched for any signs of gold. Spotting something glittering out of the corner of her eye, she saw for it and picked it up. Heading back to the surface, she gasped for air and looked at the shiny object. It was a tiny gold nugget.

"Here! I got your damn gold!" the Pikachu shouted.

"Thanks! Hop on, Vulpix!" Jabel entered the water, carrying Vespera on her back across the river.

"I'm having FUN~!" Mikela sang.

Jabel swam toward Sabiya, snatching away the gold nugget the Pikachu had found. "So, you guys are all rebels too? What are you doing this far south?" the Wartortle asked.

"To make a rebel base here and gather an army," Sabiya replied, swimming alongside Jabel. "Hey, would you want to join us?"

"I'm usually a loner," Jabel admitted. "But you'll need help finding a good place to make a base at. Sure, I'll join up. Maybe something interesting will finally happen."

The group finally reached the other side of the Karp River. Vespera hopped off of Jabel's back, relieved to be on solid ground again. Sabiya stared at Jade City in awe.

"Thank Arceus for civilization!" Vespera cried. "Let's get something to eat. I'm starving!"

"Me, too!" Flower agreed.

"Fine, we'll eat. After that, let's look for a good place to build a rebel base." Sabiya said.

"You better be careful," Jabel warned. "This is a pretty rich city. The prices of stuff around here is pretty high. You're better off fetching a bunch of gold nuggets from the river bottom first. To these guys, gold is everything."

"_Another_ dive? Why don't you do it?" the Pikachu demanded. "You're a Water-type!"

"Oh, don't worry. I'll be diving this time," the Wartortle reassured. "How many of these gold nuggets do you think your bag can hold, Pikachu?"

"It's Sabiya," Sabiya corrected. "And it can hold a whole lot, Jabel."

"Then let's get diving." Jabel said. "Hey, Eevee and Skitty! You guys help out, too! The Vulpix will have to stay on shore."

"The name is Vespera," Vespera commented. "Those two are Flower and Mikela. If we're going to be allies, it's best if we know each other by name."

"Right! Sorry!" Jabel chuckled nervously.

"It's okay," Flower reassured. "Everyone makes mistakes." The Eevee turned to Mikela. "Let's go, Mikela! We get to go swimming again!"

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales skidded into the interrogation room, before smacking into the opposite wall. "Oh, FUCK!" He backed up, shaking his head to clear the stupid little birdies.

"Lord?" asked Captain Nayan, as he turned away from the two captives in the interrogation room.

"Captain Nayan." Ninetales nodded, trying to retain some shred of dignity.

Nic barely stifled a laugh. _This is the ferocious Lord Ninetales that everyone is scared of? Hah! I almost feel ashamed of being terrified only a minute ago._

Kanika slowly began to calm down, though she still was certain that she and Nic would die.

"Well, we are here to interrogate the two of them, lord. ... I'm not really used to this," Nayan confessed. He had never before had someone interrogated; he'd always just killed people or held them captive. Well, they had plenty of time to figure out how to go about this before they left, he supposed...

"Oh, you needn't worry about that." Ninetales smirked, looking suddenly much more demonic. "I'm pretty sure these two will tell us whatever we want, or the little dog will."

Smirking again, the blood-colored fox lashed out a paw, pinning Kanika to the ground.

"Talk or the bird dies." Ninetales growled coldly.

"Tell us about any rebel activities in that region," Captain Nayan said. He expected a pack of lies. It's not like those two would probably know anything.

"Eek!" Kanika screamed. "Nic, help!"

"I...I don't know, honest!" Nic cried. He hadn't expected them to use Kanika against him. "I just know there's a bunch of them hiding in Stormcrash Ruins! That's all!"

"What else, that there are clouds over the ruins? Something more specific, kindly," Nayan pressed.

"But I can tell you are not telling us everything!" Ninetales snarled, gripping Kanika more tightly to the floor.

"AAAH!" Kanika cried.

"I mean it!" Nic shouted. "How many Pokemon do you know randomly walk up to others and ask 'you're a rebel, so tell me what your plans are'?"

"Nic!" Kanika squeaked.

The Poochyena kept glaring at Ninetales. "I'm not saying anything. You _murdered_ our great leaders! And you'll kill us all, too! At least Kanika and I will go down knowing you don't know anything!"

Captain Nayan remained still. It was obvious enough that they probably wouldn't know anything. They had appeared to be complete idiots in the face of one of his Noctowl, or so he'd been told. _That may have been a minor exaggeration on his part_, Nayan reflected, _But I don't think it was too much of one. The Poochyena, at least, appears to be very stubborn. Perhaps we'd have better luck switching the ones we're crushing here._

"Murdered them?" Ninetales suddenly stiffened. His whole body seemed to freeze, and his eyes narrowed angrily. "...You shouldn't talk about things you don't understand, mongrel. Or you might get hurt." With one of his thrashing tails, Ninetales slammed Nic into the ground, leaving Kanika.

"You don't know _**ANYTHING! **_" the fox roared, flinging the Poochyena into the wall, his eyes like bolts of fire. "You miserable little whelp! I did you all a _**FAVOR**__, AND THIS IS HOW YOU THANK ME!?" _With a snarl, Ninetales brought his paw down on Nic's front leg, breaking it.

"Nic!" Kanika screamed.

"AAAAAH!" Nic howled in agony. "A...favor?! You practically DESTROYED us, you BASTARD! What did our leaders DO to DESERVE that?!"

"Stop it! Please!" Kanika begged. "We'll tell you everything we know! Just stop!"

"No, Kanika! We can't!" Nic yelled. "This guy will only KILL us in the end! Don't say anything!"

The Starly fell silent, tears running down her cheeks.

Ninetales screamed, not a scream of rage, but a scream of- Pain?

Flinging Nic across the room again, the fox roared. "You don't know _**ANYTHING! **__**NOTHING! **__I did __**EVERYTHING **__I could! I __**SAVED **__you all, you ungrateful __**BASTARDS!"**_

Rushing across the room, he brought his paw down on Nic's other foreleg, breaking that one too. His whole body quivered, shaking, tears forming in his eyes.

"I love Azerra," he whispered. "I would do anything to save it."

Turning away, he walked to the door, hissing. "I know I did the right thing, but nobody will ever understand..."

"What do mean SAVED us?!" Nic demanded, tears springing to his eyes from the pain in his broken limbs. "You're...You're killing anyone who goes against you. Why do that? It doesn't...make sense."

Ninetales looked over his shoulder. He turned and walked back to the dog, tears sliding down his face. "Let me tell you something. Your precious leaders..." He bent down and hissed into Nic's ear.

Nic's eyes widened. "You're lying!" he shouted. "They wouldn't..."

Captain Nayan gave a bit of a nod.

"Ever since I came into this room, all I've done is tell you the truth." Ninetales whispered. "Why would I lie? Oh, right. I'm apparently a murdering psychopath who doesn't need a reason."

Nic couldn't think straight due to the blood loss from his broken limbs. "Why...?" he asked.

"They were old." Ninetales said, looking surprisingly calm. "They wanted the easy life, and were willing to do anything to get it. The power had gone to their heads. But I made sure, sure, that you would live. All of you. I wasn't going to let my home be taken from me."

Looking up at Nayan, he ordered. "Call a medic, have these two taken to a suitable room. Not the dungeon, a suitable room."

With that, he turned and left the room.

Kanika stared at Nic. "What did he say?" she asked.

"I...I..." Nic couldn't himself to believe it. _He's lying! He's got to be! Our leaders wouldn't betray us like that! But then...why is he pulling this charade if it was true?_

Captain Nayan began to object, before immediately stopping. He didn't want to contradict his ruler, after all, no matter how odd he thought this to be.

"Soldiers! ... Find a medic!" he barked to the ones outside the door.

After a few minutes of them marching around, they managed to bring one back.

"Alright. Machop, Nuzleaf! We need to carry these two out now. Medic, follow us."

The Machop and Nuzleaf picked up the two Pokemon, somewhat more gently than before. Not much, though. The Poochyena's leg would probably be hurting in the bouncing around, but there hadn't been an order about that.

They began to move around the wing. The Medic, a Chansey, followed them.

Nic whimpered as his broken legs were jostled. "Fuck!" he cursed.

Kanika closed her eyes, praying she could wake up and find herself back in her nest at Falling Woods. No such luck, though.

In a little while, Captain Nayan and his troops had managed to find a suitable room. Not exactly comfortable, but okay to live in, and it was vacant.

Kanika and Nic were placed on a small patch of some sort of crunchy, dried vegetation, and the Golbat instructed the Chansey to take care of them. "These are orders from our lord. Treat them as such."

Nic whimpered as his paws came in contact with the leafy bed. Kanika, grateful to not be paralyzed, held, or trapped under someone's paw, snuggled up beside him.

Satisfied, Captain Nayan and his forces ventured off.

"Sleep for the moment, if you are able," he commanded his followers. "I will remain in the palace, if there is urgent need of me."

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales slunk back into his chamber, clambering up onto his pedestal. Laying his head on his paws, he began to cry.

Lucy came into the room, looking up at her Lord. "My Lord?"

"Lucy." Ninetales muttered.

"What's wrong, my Lord?" Lucy asked, approaching the pedestal.

"My life." Ninetales murmured.

"It can't be all that bad." Lucy purred.

"It is." Ninetales muttered.

.o.o.o.o.

The Chansey wrapped up Nic's legs in a splint, carefully bandaging them. "You should not have angered my Lord." She murmured.

"He deserved it," Nic growled, trying his best to shut out the pain.

"The poor boy. He is young for his species." The Chansey told him. "He has so much on his shoulders."

"Who, me or him?" Nic asked. He still felt lightheaded and ready to pass out at any moment.

"My Lord." The Chansey told him.

.o.o.o.o.

As his troops departed, Captain Nayan began to flutter back to the room of the two rebels.

_Why did my lord decide to save those wretched two? I must find out. If not from my lord, then from their demeanor._

.o.o.o.o.

"I thought so," Nic coughed. He was barely staying conscious now, his vision blackening rapidly.

"Um... Miss Chansey? May I ask you something?" Kanika asked.

Captain Nayan listened carefully from his concealed area, outside and over the room.

"Yes, dear?" the Chansey asked.

"What did Ninetales mean by 'he saved us'?" Kanika asked.

The Chansey looked troubled. "Well, he means..."

"What is it?" Kanika asked. "He told Nic but Nic wouldn't tell me. He just said Ninetales was lying and...something about the leaders he killed."

"If your friend is well enough to tell you tomorrow, dear, then he shall." The Chansey gave a full body nod and departed.

Kanika groaned. "I guess I'll find out tomorrow," She nestled beside the unconscious Poochyena, falling asleep.

.o.o.o.o.

Kenward sighed, walking down the hall toward the throne room. _Stupid Psiren! Why the fuck must she talk to me in riddles?! What the hell is "the green city shall fall" supposed to mean?!_

Kenward came to a stop at the throne room door and knocked. "Lord Ninetales, it's Kenward! I have news from Psiren!" he called.

"I'M BUSY!" Ninetales shouted, burying his face in his paws.

"You can come in." Lucy called.

Kenward hesitantly entered, freezing when saw his Lord's sorry state. "Um...maybe I should come back another time...?" The Charmeleon really did want to get on the Ninetales' bad side at the moment.

"Tell me. I'm not gonna kill you." Ninetales muttered.

"I...I got a strange message from Psiren about the rebels she sighted in Granite Desert." Kenward reported. "She said 'the green city will fall'. I didn't understand. There's no Green City anywhere. I'm guessing it means that Pikachu rebel and her friends will take it over but I don't know what city!"

"No, there is no Green City. But there is EVERGREEN CITY!" Ninetales bellowed into his paws.

"Sorry, he's not feeling well." Lucy meowed, and Ninetales shouted.

"Arceus, why are all of my soldiers so STUPID!?"

"Oi," Kenward groaned, feeling insulted by the 'stupid soldiers' comment.

"Wait a minute. Green City." Ninetales lifted his head. He snarled. "Not Evergreen. The Green City, knowing that cat-" He leapt off his pedestal so quickly he knocked Kenward flying again.

"Whoa!" Kenward yelped, spinning around in circles before coming to a stop. "Again... That's the...second time today!" He fell flat on his face.

Ninetales sped through the corridors, looking for his General. "Jossar!" He shouted.

Ninetales sped into the Flareon's room, panting.

"My Lord? What is it?" Jossar growled, looking up from his pedestal.

"Jade City." Ninetales hissed. "The rebels are going to take Jade City."

"What? Those bastards!" Jossar snarled, leaping to his paws. "I'll pull together my troops, and head out tonight-!"

"No." Ninetales smirked. "Let them think they've won. Let them take it. Then, they won't expect our operatives to open the gates for my troops."

"My Lord?" Jossar asked, confused.

"When they announce that they've overtaken it, they'll gather." Ninetales smiled. "The rebels will swarm into the city, plotting to kill me. Then, when I stroll into the city..." His smile widened. "Lunare will be waiting for me."

"Lunare? You think you can trust him?" Jossar asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I know I can. Lunare is one of my closest friends. He's quite good." Ninetales smirked. "Trust me, Lunare, I can trust."

.o.o.o.o.

Sabiya, Flower, and Jabel finally left the Karp River, the Pikachu's bag stuffed with as many gold nuggets as they could dig up. Feeling prepared at last, they entered Jade City. Sabiya clutched her emerald pendant close, not wanting to lose it.

"Jabel, where's a good place to eat?" Sabiya asked.

"Right around the corner here," the Wartortle replied, leading the way.

"Mmm! It smells so good here!" Flower cried. "Doesn't it, Mikela? I can't wait to eat!"

"Me, too," Vespera agreed.

The group was unaware of a certain neutral Glameow criminal staring down at them from the rooftop of a tall building. _I wonder if Lord Ninetales got my message or not?_ she thought. _Even if he doesn't, those loyalists will come here eventually and battle it out with these rebel kiddies. And I can swipe all the wealth I'd ever please from those fools! Hah! Their losses are my gain!_ She smiled widely and dashed away to steal any shiny or valuable object she could spot.

"It's so PRETTY~!" Mikela sang.

"How can a scent be pretty?" Jabel wondered.

"She must mean the buildings and shops," Vespera commented. "It's a very beautiful city, after all."

"Here we are!" Jabel cried.

She walked up to the Lickitung at the door and held out five gold nuggets. The Normal-type stepped aside, letting them through. The Wartortle led the group into the restaurant and took a large booth.

"Order whatever you want, guys. We've got enough money to pay off just about anything." Jabel said.

Mikela looked at the menu.

"What would you like for drinks?" a Kecleon waiter asked.

"Water," Jabel replied. "For all of us."

"Any idea of your opening meal yet?" the waiter asked.

"I'll have an Oran Berry salad with some Cheri Berries on the side." Sabiya said.

"Rawst soup, if you don't mind. A little hotter than usual, if you can." Vespera requested.

"Candy!" Flower cried.

"...There isn't any candy, Flower." Sabiya replied.

"Awwww!" The Eevee hung her head sadly.

"Pecha Berry ice cream for her. That's all she'll need." the Pikachu said. "It's the closest thing to sugar she's going to get."

"And you, Miss Wartortle?" the Kecleon asked.

"Get me some Krabby legs with Aspear Berries on the side." Jabel replied.

"Krabby...legs?" Sabiya repeated awkwardly.

"Hey, I like meat! Get over it!" Jabel snapped.

"Mikela, what would you like?" Vespera asked, looking at the Skitty.

"Pecha soup with Oran BERRIES~!" Mikela sang.

"All right," The Kecleon waiter left with the list of food.

"This will be the best meal I've ever had since I became a-" Sabiya started.

"Traveler? Best not to use the r-word here." Jabel warned. "You want us to get kicked out or have Ninetales on our asses?"

"No," the Pikachu replied.

"LALALALALAA~!" Mikela sang.

The Kecleon returned after a while with their food. "Would you like the bill now or later?" he asked.

"Later," Jabel replied. "Just let us eat!"

"O-okay!" the Kecleon nodded before rushing away.

"Dig in, guys!" Sabiya cried, munching on her salad.

"Mmm! Extra hot, just how I like it." Vespera noted, sipping her soup joyfully.

"Ice cream!" Flower cheered, devouring her ice cream. "...Brain freeze! AAAAH! The pain!"

"Slow down then...um, Flower?" Jabel guessed, tearing into a Krabby leg.

"Yeah," the Eevee nodded, holding her head. "Think of hot things, think of hot things, think of hot things... Aaaaah. Brain freeze all gone." She dove back into her ice cream, screaming about a brain freeze a short time later.

Mikela slammed her face into her meal.

The door tinkled as a Raichu entered, spotting the group and coming their way. He sat down on an empty seat next to Sabiya. "Hellloooo, ladies."

.o.o.o.o.

Kael the Torchic swore under his breath. This was going to take forever. How was he supposed to get that necklace now-wait, he was missing the obvious. The gold nuggets. That'd get him food.

Actually, he might be able to get the necklace, too, if he did this right.

He waited for a group of people to enter the restaurant, then trailed in behind them, ducking low, and sneaking around to the back.

Kael used Ember, unleashing a small stream of pellets onto the building's wall, and managed to sneak his way near the Pikachu's booth without being seen. Now to wait. With any luck, people would panic, and he could steal some gold and maybe the necklace too in the chaos.

Lunare spotted the Torchic up to mischief, and stalked over to give the bird a smack on the head. "Better put that out, before I do. And trust me, you don't want me to do that."

.o.o.o.o.

"What the fuck do you-HOLY SHIT!" Sabiya screamed, jumping as the place became engulfed in flames. She clutched her emerald necklace even tighter.

"I got this! Water Gun!" Jabel cried, throwing water onto the flames.

Almost all of the patrons and workers had fled from the burning building. Sabiya, Vespera, Flower, and Jabel followed, abandoning the gold nuggets they had worked so hard to get from the Karp River. The Pikachu still had her bag, though, so her supplies were safe.

.o.o.o.o.

Kael, having managed to escape in the chaos, smirked as he patted the gold nuggets he'd managed to grab. Food!

He set off in search of a place serving the fattiest, most artery-clogging food he could find. Arceus knew he was going to need it; who knew when he'd be able to get some more money.

.o.o.o.o.

"What the fuck happened?!" Sabiya shouted.

"It looks like a weird Torchic caused the trouble," Vespera noted.

"My ice cream..." Flower whimpered.

"We can get more later," Jabel reassured. "Let's scram before the manager tries to pin it on us. I know a place to go that you might like."

"Gladly! Just get us out of here!" Sabiya growled, sparks jumping from her cheeks.

Clutching her necklace even tighter out of fear, the Pikachu and her friends followed Jabel away from the burning restaurant and through a few alleys. Emerging in a nearly-empty street, the Wartortle led them toward a small building with the worlds 'Cerulean Fountain' carved above the door. Opening the door, Jabel ushered the group in.

"Where are we?" Vespera asked, her nose twitching. "It smells almost..."

"Relaxing? It better be." Jabel smirked. "Welcome to my hide-out, girls!"

The Raichu followed them, panting. "Hey, what's the rush? I wanted to ask you something?"

"Who are you?" Sabiya asked, instantly suspicious. "What do you want?"

.o.o.o.o.

"Hey, I just wanted to talk." The Raichu held up both his paws.

"About what?" Sabiya demanded. _This guy just pops out of the blue and acts like we're old friends. Just who is he?_

The Raichu looked around furtively. Turning back to Sabiya, he hissed. "Is this place safe?"

"As safe as any place can be!" Jabel cried proudly. She then slammed the door of her hide-out closed, clicking the lock in place. "Tadah! It even locks."

"...Wow?" Sabiya said awkwardly.

.o.o.o.o.

Kael, having finished his meal, began to wonder if he could steal that necklace, too. That would get him food for a week. He'd need it. Money was getting scarce. He really didn't want to have to dip into his emergency savings; they were getting low.

He backtracked to the restaurant, and began to follow the Pikachu from there, trying not to be too obvious.

Kael swore as he saw the building. That thing had a lock, and they had probably locked it. He circled around to the back, finding the thinnest wood to try to listen in.

.o.o.o.o.

She turned back to the Raichu. "Answer my question already. Who are you and what do you want with us? Take in mind that we greatly outnumber you, even if you're a fully evolved Pokemon."

"Agreed," Vespera nodded, fur bristling. "Don't try anything funny."

"Right, I was hearing rumors flying around- You're not with Ninetales, are you?" The Raichu asked, looking worried and backing up. "You don't seem like you are- but his spies are everywhere, and I can't trust just about anybody." He looked around again. "I'd prefer not to reveal my name. Not if I can't trust you."

"We should say the same thing," Sabiya said. "Who's side are you on? We're rebels, Vespera included."

The Vulpix nodded. "Choose your next words wisely or they'll be your last," she warned.

"Oh, thank Arceus." The Raichu sighed, relaxing. "I'm against him as well. Wait, you're going to kill me? What did I do?!"

"If you're a rebel, you're fine." Sabiya reassured. "We have to be prepared for anything nowadays. I never thought there were rebels in Jade City. It seems...too high-class for that."

"Another reason why you chose it?" Jabel asked.

"Yeah," the Pikachu nodded. "Nobody would expect it."

"Oh, okay." The Raichu relaxed slightly. "My name is Dama. My parents were killed by Ninetales, and I want revenge."

"Welcome to the group...if you're looking for friends, that is." Vespera said.

"Just don't blab or nothing. I still think you look suspicious somehow." Sabiya commented.

"So, Dama, welcome to the Cerulean Fountain, my hide-out and home!" Jabel announced. "Sabiya, you're welcome to make this place your rebel base."

"It seems big enough," the Pikachu commented, looking around. "There's a steady supply of food and that fountain at the room's center provides enough water. We could probably house a small army here...if we ever acquire enough rebels to make one."

"I like it! It's pretty!" Flower cried, smiling.

'Dama' nodded. "Can I stay here for the night?" He asked.

"We all are, apparently." Sabiya said.

"I'm tired!" Flower whined, yawning.

"Then go to sleep. I'll keep guard." Jabel volunteered.

"Thanks," Vespera said, curling up by Flower. "Good night."

"Night," Sabiya agreed.

Sabiya, Vespera, and Flower soon fell asleep. Jabel remained awake to keep watch.

Mikela sank onto the ground and fell asleep instantly.

Dama looked at Jabel, then asked. "Can I go outside for a bit? Only I'm used to seeing the night sky, and I just wanted to look at the stars. They give me hope for the future."

"Fine, but stay in sight of the door." Jabel instructed. "If I lose sight of you for longer than two minutes, I'm not letting you back in. I'm not trying to seem mean or nothing, okay?"

"Okay." Dama headed outside and sat down in a patch of grass, looking up at the sky.

Jabel leaned back against the door, watching the stars from a window. _I wonder what'll happen tomorrow?_

Dama looked up at the sky, flicking his tail. High above, a Murkrow watched him.

.o.o.o.o.

Rebels?

That was huge... What was he supposed to do?

He could turn them in for money. But if he worked for them, he could get food. They had gotten a hell of a lot of gold nuggets after all. His stomach growled with the memory of the food he'd gotten, but he ignored it. He didn't trust that Raichu. He decided that there could be four sets of eyes on him.

Kael scaled the building and sat, waiting.

.o.o.o.o.

Jabel blinked in confusion as she heard a light scratching on the wall of her hide-out. Growing curious, she peered outside and looked around. The Wartortle saw nothing.

"Weird," she muttered before ducking back inside.

.o.o.o.o.

A Politoed lazily looked over the inside of his small, rusted shack. It was dark, but still all too easy to see the glittering and shining of little things all over the makeshift shelves of the little building. It pleased him as he began to get up for a stretch. This was a great new day for him on the Evergreen River... Perhaps he'd get something new! That'd be just swell. He stretched his frog limbs a bit more, giving a hoarse croak before diving into the river water. He was careful to keep his eye on his riverside shack, however. You never knew with thieves. Of course, what was in that little construction was a meager amount when compared to the rest of his fortune, but...

.o.o.o.o.

Kanika yawned, stretching her wings slightly. "Where...? Oh."

The Starly looked at Nicolo sadly. He was still unconscious and his broken front legs were still bandaged. He'd never be able to walk normally again.

She glared at the ceiling of her cell. "I hate this," she said, a tear running down her cheek. "I want to go home."

Captain Nayan, half dozing off, suddenly heard the Starly's words, something about her wishing to go home. Letting go of his perch, he flitted down through the door, to beside her.

"Perhaps you should have thought of that before you two went prowling around in the ruins. Better yet, before becoming rebels at all."

"...Go away," Kanika said, putting as much bravery into her voice as possible. _Oh, Arceus, he's going to eat me! Why me?!_

"Shut your mouth, Starly," said the Golbat as he batted her with a wing. He made no further attempt to attack her, though. "It's all worked out very nicely for you that our lord has decided to let you two live, but bear in mind that I am a captain, and I won't be having some lucky rebel a quarter my size telling me what to do. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Kanika squeaked, cowering in terror. _Okay, acting brave was a bad idea! Leave that to Nic! He's better at it than me!_

"A much better reply," fumed the Golbat. He didn't feel any need to continue the conversation, and so he flapped away.

.o.o.o.o.

Kenward groaned as he returned to the palace, his feet sore from walking all the way to the southern edge of Fiery Fields. _Stupid Psiren and her stupid far away meeting places,_ he thought.

He limped into the throne room, having stepped on a sharp rock just outside the palace gates. "Lord Ninetales? Are you here?" he called, looking around nervously. "I have news from Psiren."

"What is it?" Ninetales stalked into the room, his eyes full of rage.

"Psiren gave me a report on how those rebels heading toward Jade City are doing." Kenward reported. "There's now a Pikachu, Eevee, Vulpix, Skitty, Wartortle, and a Raichu in their little group. They're hide-out is in a building called Cerulean Fountain. It's not far from the Karp River and it has access to the city's alleyways, which go throughout all of Jade City."

"A Raichu?" Ninetales smirked. "Well, that's interesting..."

"Also, I have other news." Kenward swallowed the fear welling up in his chest. "Psiren gave me another riddle. She said 'the city of light will turn red with blood'. I think she means Light City. Something bad is going to happen there, Lord Ninetales. What do we do?"

"Simple. Jossar and I will head to Light City, and see if anything happens." Ninetales smirked.

"My Lord, is that wise? You rarely head out into battle personally." Kenward argued. "Please, let me or Captain Nayan handle this with Jossar! There's no need for you to bloody your paws with this!"

"I'm BORED." Ninetales snapped. "And I can't trust Jossar with something like this. I'm the only one besides Lunare who can defeat him in battle, and that's on a good day."

"...Whatever you say, my Lord." Kenward said, defeated. "By the way, I also have a message from the Rose Lake guards. Skule has been sighted near the shores of Light City. Please be careful."

.o.o.o.o.

On the shores of Rose Lake, Skule eyed the Gyarados guards from the cover of the bushes. Narrowing his eyes, the Houndoom pulled back and trotted back to his army. A Marowak watched him.

"Soon, Wilder," Skule reassured. "Soon, we'll eradicate those peace-loving fools and truly get Ninetales attention. That bastard will pay for what he did. He'll pay with his blood!"

Wilder sighed, tapping his bone club on the ground. He knew very well that Skule had forgotten his true reasons for hating the loyalists but made no move to tell that to him. Skule wasn't cruel to just loyalists.

"Tomorrow," Skule suddenly said, staring up at the moon above. "Early tomorrow morning, we'll break through the guards and attack the city. Capture the castle and the leaders. We'll find a loyalist messenger and make it watch as we tear the leaders apart. Then we'll leave this once-beautiful city in ruins. That ought to show Ninetales I mean business. He thinks I haven't been a threat for thirty years. I'll prove him wrong!"

Wilder shook his head. He knew very well that Ninetales recognized them as a threat. Skule was just being his crazy self again.

"Tomorrow," Skule repeated, a twisted grin crossing his face. "Tomorrow, the walls and streets of Light City will be bathed in blood. It will be my greatest feat yet!" He laughed maniacally at the moon, not caring who happened to hear him.

.o.o.o.o.

_What was I doing there, anyway? Well, I suppose I should be getting out now..._

Captain Nayan was surprised to find himself passing the Charmeleon that he'd recently met. He looked to have something interesting to say.

"Captain Nayan! Nice to see you again." Kenward greeted the Golbat. "What were you doing in there? It sounded like you were talking to someone."

"Some rebel. I don't know why our lord has let these two rebels I caught live, but I can only guess that he has his reasons. What are you doing here?"

"Nothing much," Kenward replied. "Lord Ninetales has decided to go into battle...personally. He left a while ago. It's Skule again."

"That savage one? I'm amazed rebels say that our lord is cruel while entirely ignoring his actions. I hope that our Lord Ninetales slays that scum and all of his followers; it would make the world far better. As for myself, I was planning on rounding my troops up and getting them back to the ruins again. If you are finished sleeping, would you like to join me?"

"Sure, why not?" Kenward replied. "The only useful thing I've been doing is playing messenger between that criminal, Psiren, and Lord Ninetales. I could use a change."

"Right. It's rather dark over there, and it has plenty of formations for the rebels to hide in. We need to saturate the area with troops to truly eradicate them... I'll gather my own soldiers, meet me at the front gate when you and yours are ready to depart, Captain... Kenward, I believe it was?"

"Yeah, that's my name. I'll be there, Captain Nayan." Kenward quickly dashed off to gather his troops.

The Golbat flitted off to gather his troops. With the benefit of wings to speed him up, he was down by the gates after about only fifteen minutes with all of his soldiers.

Kenward arrived at the front gates with his troops. "I'm ready to go, Captain Nayan." he said.

"Right, right, then we're... What?"

Deep, loud croaking noises could be heard, seemingly from the river.

"... It's only that one Politoed, in all likelihood. Anyway, we are all departing for the Stormcrash Ruins. I trust your team is prepared, Captain Kenward? Very well," he said without waiting for a reply, "We are off to hunt some rebels, today... To my troops, it does not matter whether rebels are killed or captured, but be sure to know what you're capable of."

"I mainly capture unless they're a true threat to Lord Ninetales. That's the only time I'll openly kill." Kenward replied. "I highly doubt we'll run into any real threats, though."

"Real threats? None at all are present," dismissed the Golbat, flying by Kenward's side.

"If it was anyone of consequence, they'd most likely be joined with Skule's ruffians, or at least trying to do something, as opposed to hiding in a pile of rocks in a shadow."

They were advancing on the ruins. Storm clouds were overhead by now.

"Good point," Kenward muttered. "I guess we're just weeding out the weakling rebels."

"Yes, unfortunately. At the same time though, it's an important role. It's one of the few places where rebels can reliably be rooted out, and keeping them in fear and hiding keeps them from rallying themselves and actually becoming trouble, or disorganized if someone of consequence did rally them up. Well, we're here," said the Golbat, as they arrived at the crumbled gates to the ruins.

"My Noctowl and I will have the air covered. Feel free to command my own grounds troops if you feel their efficiency is not being maximized."

"Got it," Kenward nodded.

He entered the ruins, commanding his and Nayan's ground troops to search the ruins for rebels. He glanced up at the cloudy sky ahead, nervous. _It better not rain,_ he thought.

.o.o.o.o.

The sun was setting as Ninetales and Jossar headed out into the wilderness. The Flareon wasn't bothered by the cold, but Ninetales was shuddering an awful lot.

"Are you well, my Lord?" Jossar asked, looking up at his leader.

"..." Ninetales looked over at the blood-red orb sinking over the hills. "...I am afraid."

"What?" Jossar stopped so suddenly that Ninetales stepped on his tail, but he didn't seem to notice.

"I'm afraid of it all falling down." Ninetales murmured, his many tails sweeping with the arcs of the wind. "Azerra destroyed."

"Azerra has prospered under your rule, my Lord." Jossar pointed out.

"Every ruler has his length of rule allotted by Arceus." Ninetales commented, taking his paw off Jossar's fluffy tail. "But my rule will be longer than most. I don't know..."

"Are we setting camp for the night?" Jossar asked, looking up at Ninetales.

"No, we need to get there as soon as possible. We're out of sight of the palace, now we can run." Ninetales shot off, Jossar loping after him.

.o.o.o.o.

Skule paced through the camp, growing impatient. He longed to eliminate those peace-loving Pokemon from the face of Azerra immediately! Why must he wait?!

...Wait. He didn't have to.

Turning, the Houndoom snarled. "Get up! All of you!" he yelled. "We attack now!"

"What happened to an early morning attack?" Wilder asked, shifting the bone club against his shoulder.

"Forget it! We attack now!" Skule shouted. "Get up, you lazy bastards! Up! Up! We have peace-lovers to kill!"

The army struggled to awaken, getting to their feet and readying to fight. They were far too used to their leader's eccentric behavior, especially to his drastic changes in his plans. Shaking the sleep from their bodies, the army stood at attention as Skule prowled through their ranks.

"Good! We move now!" Skule chuckled insanely, eyes wild. "Wilder, lead a group and deal with the Gyarados guards. Call us when you succeed. If you fail..." He felt no need to continue. "Move! Now!"

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales came over the crest of a hill, looking at Light City. "We're here!" He called to Jossar, who was panting. "Come on, Jossar! Let's keep the city looking lovely!"

"Yes... Sir..." Jossar panted.

.o.o.o.o.

Wilder smirked as the Gyarados guards fell, creating a floating path of unconscious bodies leading directly to Light City. Nodding to a Mightyena, the canine let out a loud howl.

Across Rose Lake, Skule grinned. "Charge! Head straight for the castle! Kill anyone that gets in your way! Death to peace-lovers!" he roared.

Skule and his army ran across the bodies, leaping onto Light City's shores and racing toward the city. Citizens screamed and fled, stragglers being cut down by Skule's soldiers. The Houndoom stood on top of the castle steps, a twisted smirk on his lips. The sight of all the blood staining Light City's streets filled him with joy and satisfaction.

"Now to kill those two elders," he commented.

Standing up, he turned his back on his army and headed toward the castle doors.

.o.o.o.o.

"Something's happening!' Jossar cried, racing forward. Ninetales swarmed after him, growling.

"Skule!" Ninetales spat. "I'm gonna kill him!"

"This one is mine!" Jossar headed for the castle, spotting the Houndoom on the steps. "Skule! Turn and fight!" He roared, unleashing an Overheat.

"Huh? Well, well! The action finally starts to get fun!" Skule laughed.

He ducked to the side, escaping the searing-hot flames, and pounced toward the Flareon. Twisted around, he smashed his glowing tail into the palace steps and shattered them, kicking up a thick cloud of dust. Skule's army launched themselves at fleeing townsfolk and the two intruders.

"Skule! It's Ninetales!" Wilder shouted. "He's here!" The Marowak smacked his bone club into a building wall.

"Finally! I'll show that bastard who should be ruler!" Skule snarled, readying a second Iron Tail. "After I deal with _this_ piece of rubbish, of course!" He swung his tail at Jossar through the dust cloud, a huge sharp-toothed grin on his face. "DIE!"

"Looked in the mirror lately?" Jossar taunted, ducking and then biting on Skule's tail with Fire Fang.

Ninetales blasted an Overheat at the approaching army, snarling. "Stay out of this!" He followed up with a Psybeam.

"GRAAAAH!" Skule howled. "Why not have a taste of your own goddamn medicine?!"

He twisted around, sinking his teeth into the Flareon's back with Fire Fang. Tearing Jossar off of his tail, he tossed him aside and licked the blood off of his fangs. Another crazy grin crossed his face as he stalked toward Jossar.

"After I rip you to shreds, I'll go after your precious leader. He deserves every bit of death and destruction dealt to him and his followers." Skule chuckled madly. "Azerra deserves a better leader than him. Our previous leaders were strong yet died so easily. It was _pathetic_! He'll pay for what he's done...to me, to my army, to everyone, to Azerra! He'll pay, with his blood if need be!"

Wilder yelped as he crashed into a wall, his bone club snapping in half from the impact of the Psybeam on his small body. The Marowak struggled to his feet, watching as his comrades continued to fight instead of flee. If Ninetales didn't kill them and they fled, Skule would kill them for being cowards.

"We're all dead now," he muttered, leaning against the wall while clutching his bleeding shoulder. "If Ninetales doesn't kill us, Skule will. It's over."

He fell forward, falling face-first to the ground. Wilder was out cold. The battle continued, regardless.

Jossar lay limp for a moment, then snapped up and fired a Hyper Beam point blank at Skule's face. "Filthy traitor!" He snarled, feeling himself go limp as a result of the power of the attack. "My Lord will kill you, if I don't do it myself!"

Ninetales slashed at the attacking Pokemon, biting down on a Vaporeon's neck and flinging it's lifeless body at an Ivysaur. He snarled and powered up another Overheat, his eyes full of rage.

"GRAAAAH!" Skule howled, the left side of his face and body being hit by the attack due to his swift change in direction. "Bastard fox! You die now!" He lifted a large paw, aiming to crush the Flareon's skull.

The army was quickly becoming decimated, soldiers falling left and right. Wilder woke up at one point and attempted to flee, only to get hit by the dead body of a Vaporeon and get knocked out again. The army refused to back down despite their losses. Light City's citizens had succeeded in completely evacuated, leaving the war to continue with innocent blood being shed.

"Like hell!" Jossar struggled to move out of the way, but fear bloomed in him.

Ninetales snarled and blasted a Smokescreen out, confusing the fighters as he ran at Skule. "Taste this, motherfucker!" He yelled as he bit down on the back of Skule's neck.

Skule howled, his paw missing its mark by a foot. Tearing away, the Houndoom snarled as he faced Ninetales. "Well, lookie who came to play! Finally facing me head-on? You must be desperate to stop me. Too bad that won't be happening! Today's _your_ death day, not mine!"

He unleashed a powerful Fire Blast, following up with a pair of Shadow Balls that hid within the flames for an added surprise. It was one of Skule's well-known combo moves.

"Look who's desperate, if you're pulling that trick!" Ninetales shouted, throwing up a Protect to deflect the attacks. He lunged forward, his fangs sparkling with electricity.

"The same to you!" Skule snarled, charging to meet Ninetales. Black smoke poured from his jaws as his fangs began to glow bright orange with heat.

Ninetales lashed forward and bit down on Skule's front leg, sending hundreds of volts through the Houndoom's leg.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Skule twisted around, sinking his burning fangs between Ninetales' shoulders.

"GYAAAAAAAAAA!" Ninetales screamed, his shoulders burning. He snarled, then flipped Skule over, staggering away as he hissed in pain.

"GRRRRR!" Skule writhed on the ground, his paw spasming from the amount of electricity that had been pumped into it. "You'll pay for that, Ninetales! I'll...I'll rip your head off! I'll paint the streets of this city with your blood, damn it!"

The army had been almost completely decimated. Remaining army members began to surrender, fearing that Skule had been defeated.

"There isn't enough of my blood to go around, you moron!" Ninetales growled, fire building in his jaws. "When I see monsters like you killing for pleasure, it makes me SICK! Now DIE! OVERHEAT!"

"Ladies first, asshole!" Skule shot back, a twisted grin on his face. "OVERHEAT!"

"Then that's you up first!" Ninetales shot the powerful attack at Skule.

"You look more like a girl to me, foxy!" Skule snapped, shooting his attack as well.

The flames swirled around, smoke nearly blinding everyone in the vicinity. Ninetales narrowed his eyes. "Nobody calls me Foxy." He lunged at Skule, his fangs glowing white. "Try this on for size! Ice Fang!"

"Idiot! Close combat is my forte!" Skule laughed, charging up a Shadow Ball. "Eat this, Foxy!" The Houndoom decided to keep the nickname, enjoying the fact that Ninetales hated being called that.

"How stupid are you?" Ninetales then jumped backward, his claws digging into the stone as he readied an attack. He never thought he would have to use this, but-

"Aqua Jet!"

"What the?!" Skule skidded to a stop. _When did he...?!_

He howled in pain as the water soaked him, crashing him into the wall of a nearby building. The building collapsed but Skule broke out of the rubble, blood staining his black and red fur. He stared at Ninetales with both shock and hatred.

"When the hell did you learn that?!" he demanded. "Ninetales can't learn Aqua Jet! What trickery is this?!"

"Forty years of ruling Azerra, and did you think I sat on my hide all that time? No. I knew that one day you would come out of your hole, and I prepared for that day! My reign doesn't end today!" Ninetales lunged forward exceptionally quickly, biting down on Skule's neck with Ice Fang.

"GRAAAAAH!" Skule tore away, blood running from his neck. _This is insane! Why didn't I realize he would be ready for me?! Of course he would be ready! He'd be a fool not to be ready for me, his greatest threat! I may lose now but I shall win next time!_

Turning, the Houndoom suddenly bounded down what remained of the palace steps. "You win this time, Ninetales, but I shall win our next fight!" he shouted. "Retreat, my army! Re...treat...?"

His army was completely decimated. Even Wilder, his loyal Marowak, had surrendered. Skule was alone.

It began to rain, the first few droplets landing on the palace steps. It began to intensify, and Ninetales looked up at the sky. From Skule's angle, it looked like the leader was crying.

"Leave here, Skule. If you can get any stronger by the time we next fight, then so be it." Ninetales intoned, staring up at the stormy clouds.

"I guarantee I'll be stronger, Ninetales. Next time, it'll be YOU who loses! Not ME!" Skule vowed.

The rebel Houndoom turned, fleeing across the floating bodies of the Gyarados. Leaving Light City and Rose Lake far behind, Skule escaped...alone. His army, nearly all of which were dead, was left abandoned. He didn't care.

Ninetales watched as an army entered Light City, led by a towering Swampert. "Balakia." He rasped, feeling sick.

"My Lord. I came as soon as I heard." Balakia looked around at the ruins of the city. "What happened?"

"Skule happened." Ninetales choked, struggling to remain standing. "The injured- Help them. I need to see the leaders of the city. Make sure you save as many as possible."

"Yes, my Lord." Balakia bowed her huge crested head, then turned and began shouting out orders to her troops as Ninetales entered the palace.

"Lord Ninetales, you are safe!" Elder Persian cried. "Thank the gods!"

Elder Espeon looked away. It was common knowledge that she favored the rebels over Ninetales' own troops. But with the recent attack, her views were shaken. "Thank you," she said simply.

"If you had not come, Ninetales, our fair city would have been destroyed!" Elder Persian cried. "You have our total gratitude. But...how did you know what would occur here?"

"No doubt they got word from that shifty criminal, Psiren," Elder Espeon said coldly. "Am I right?"

"I did. And I am happy to see that you both are safe. Light City has suffered greatly, but I shall do everything I can to restore this city to its former glory." Ninetales replied, looking both of them over to check that they were unharmed.

"Thank you!" Elder Persian bowed his head gratefully.

Elder Espeon sighed before mimicking her fellow elder, keeping her gaze away from Ninetales.

"What is wrong, Elder Espeon?" Ninetales asked her, noticing her refusal to look at him.

"Nothing," she replied, standing up. "We have a lot of repair work to plan. Come along, Persian." She walked away.

"Don't mind her, Ninetales. She favors...the rebels over you." Elder Persian admitted. "She's probably shaken by the fact that Skule attacked us. It's been so long since Light City has been attacked that... Well, we quite forgot how quickly peace can be shattered in our world. She'll return to normal soon enough, don't you worry."

Ninetales winced and staggered, the wound on his shoulders burning. "Gah-!" He closed his eyes, enduring the pain. _A scar I will bear forever. _He thought bitterly. _As the result of my recklessness._

"Ah! Lord Ninetales, you're injured!" Elder Persian cried. "Medic! Somebody find a medic!"

"NO!" Ninetales snarled, opening one of his closed eyes and glaring at Persian. "No. I'm fine. I brought this on myself. I was foolish. An old monster's mistake!"

Elder Persian backed up a step, afraid. "W-w-what?" he squeaked.

"I am an old fool!" Ninetales spat, hunching his shoulders and letting out a snarl of pain. "I've been too soft! When I took over, my strength was something to be feared! But now- look at me! Scarred by a pathetic rebel!"

"Please, don't be so harsh on yourself." Elder Persian said. "I'm sure you scarred him just as badly, if no more so, than he scarred you."

"But I'm better than this!" Ninetales hissed. "I have to be!" He grimaced, his face drawn back in a terrible snarl. "Jossar, Lunare, Balakia, Kenward, Nayan, Arcanine! They look up to me! THEY ALL DO!" He screamed out the last few words as he collapsed.

He lay on the floor, spasming in pain. "I'm BETTER THAN THIS!" He shrieked, crying out in pain as the scar burnt horribly. He roared in pain and lashed out at the nearest object- a statue of a Blastoise. He leapt upon the statue, ripping it apart and sending pieces of stone flying dangerously around the room.

"I- I can't be WEAK!" He snarled, bringing a paw down on the Blastiose's head, shattering it. He gasped, as a shard of rock had embedded itself in his paw. He raised it up, blood dripping from his claws.

"But here I am." He murmured. "Cut by the smallest stone." He fell limp, glaring at the floor.

"Ninetales, you may be ruler of Azerra but you're still mortal." Elder Persian said. "You may live for 1000 years but you're by no means a god. You feel pain and weakness, just like the rest of us. Skule is no doubt suffering from his own wounds. You decimated and captured his entire army! Skule is nothing now! You're stronger than him, Ninetales, and you proved it!"

Ninetales' eyes snapped open. He shuddered, his many tails flailing. "But I am-" He paused, looking at Persian. "I am a monster." He hissed hoarsely. "Look at me, Persian. Do you see what the rebels see? Do you see what Espeon sees?"

"No, I don't. They just don't understand the full story, that's all." Elder Persian said. "Our old leaders deserved what was coming. What they nearly did is unforgiveable! One day, Espeon and the rebels will understand that."

"But I've fallen into a trap!" Ninetales suddenly lunged at Persian, pinning the cat to the ground. "The very trap I swore to myself that I MUST AVOID!"

"_What_ trap?! Leadership?" Elder Persian asked, frightened. He squirmed but knew he couldn't escape the Fire-type's iron grip.

"I swore-!" Ninetales was trembling in horror. "I swore I would divulge what really made me kill the leaders! That I would be shown as a truthful and honest leader! But he made me-!" Ninetales let out a scream of pain and terror. "THAT BASTARD!"

"Lord Ninetales, please calm down!" Elder Persian cried. "It's over! It's in the past now!"

Ninetales stared at Persian in something akin to horror. But it was much, much worse.

"How could I forget?" He asked hoarsely. "How could I forget what he made me do that day?"

"You don't need to forget! You have to move on eventually, though!" Elder Persian said. "If you focus on the past too much, you lose sight of the present. Lose sight of the present and you'll have no future. If you have no future, you may as well be dead. That was forty years ago, Ninetales."

Ninetales moved away from Persian, looking horrified. He limped to a window, staring out of it. Balakia's troops were being used to help the injured, and put out some of the remaining fires.

"This city and I have both been scarred by that madman." Ninetales murmured. "But the city will be rebuilt. It will forget. I am allowed no such luxury, I'm afraid." He turned to Persian. "I need to return to the palace." He said firmly. "If Skule is still alive, he will gather another army. We need to protect the innocent."

"Agreed," Elder Persian nodded. "Please be careful, Lord Ninetales. Skule has been getting stronger with every fight but he's also grown more insane. You can use that to your advantage one day."

Ninetales nodded, heading down the steps. "Give my best to Espeon."

"I shall," Elder Persian promised. "Will you be taking Skule's captured troops with you?"

"No. For this journey- I need to travel alone."

"I meant back to the palace, Lord Ninetales." Elder Persian pointed out. "Are you not...going back to the palace?"

"No." Ninetales sighed. "I'm afraid I need to visit a certain old friend..."

"Good luck with that then, Lord Ninetales." Elder Persian wished.

.o.o.o.o.

Jabel blinked as rain pattered on the roof of her hide-out. "Hey, Dama! It's starting to rain!" she called. "Better get inside before you get sick!"

"Where did this come from?" Dama asked as he entered the hideout again.

"Who knows?" the Wartortle replied.

Inside, Flower opened her eyes. "What's going on?"

"It's raining," Jabel replied. "Go back to sleep, okay?"

The Eevee nodded, snuggling against Vespera's warm fur and falling asleep. Sabiya was a short distance away from her companions, clutching her emerald necklace tightly in her sleep.

Dama curled up in a corner, looking out of the windows before falling asleep.

Jabel sighed, watching the rain pour from the skies. Fighting sleep, she continued to keep guard.

.o.o.o.o.

Captain Nayan and his Noctowl spread over the sky, looking for any rebels now venturing out from their hiding places.

They tried to be subtle about the way they flew over the place; they didn't want to go alerting anyone.

At least the stormy clouds made it hard for them to be seen.

Kenward continued his search, glancing up at the stormy clouds even more now. _Please don't rain, please don't rain, please don't rain!_

.o.o.o.o.

Skule limped through the rain, his wounded paw having gone completely numb from the electricity Ninetales had unleashed upon him. "Damn it," he hissed. "You'll pay for this, Ninetales! If it's the last thing I do, I'll make sure you die a death so gruesome and cruel that nobody will dare defy me ever again! EVER!"

.o.o.o.o.

The Politoed sighed in joy as it began to rain. He liked the rain, he didn't have to go into the river so much. At the same time, though, it sort of guaranteed a slow day in his 'business'. Very few Pokemon seemed to enjoy visiting him in the rain.

.o.o.o.o.

Nayan continued flight in the ruins, though he let his Noctowl drop lower. He knew that they couldn't fly as well in the rain. He could only hope that Kenward was going alright… In retrospect, perhaps it wasn't for the best to invite a Charmeleon to patrol ruins nearly constantly covered by storm clouds.

.o.o.o.o.

Kenward was currently sheltering under an overhang of rubble. "Why must it rain?" he complained. "Then again, this is _Storm_crash Ruins. I should've expected this. I bet Nayan's having better luck. He's not in danger of _dying_ out here, after all."

.o.o.o.o.

Captain Nayan was regretting having invited Captain Kenward.

On top of him having the possibility of dying, they couldn't let the ground troops split up, because as they didn't know each other all that well they might be mistaken for rebels themselves. Since Kenward's troops were reluctant to move away from their boss, that left pretty much the only patrolling groups as himself and his two Noctowl… Maybe it'd be for the best to just get back out of here once the rain stopped. Now Nayan really felt like a fool, and he was sure that that was how his own forces were now seeing him as well.

.o.o.o.o.

Kenward groaned. "Now I feel _really_ useless," he grumbled. "Oh well. I should've known. It's not like Captain Nayan meant for this to happen."

"Captain? Orders?" a Riolu asked, peering into the overhang at the Charmeleon.

"Go search for rebels," Kenward ordered. "A few of you can stay here. Be careful."

"Yes, sir!" the Riolu saluted before dashing off to deliver the orders.

.o.o.o.o.

At that moment, Nayan spotted a Riolu dashing towards their own Pokemon, swinging past a curve. Just perfect! He'd... No, that was one of Kenward's.

Captain Nayan sighed. This wouldn't end well if they couldn't get out of this infernal... Was that an Arbok wriggling out of a hole?

Swooping down for a closer look, sure enough, the Captain saw an Arbok, taking advantage of the water on the ground to wiggle out of a hole.

Great!

.o.o.o.o.

The Arbok slipped free of the hole, gasping for breath. "Yesss!" he hissed. "Freedom!"

He had been stuck in that infernal hole for the past three days and now, thanks to the rain, he had finally gotten loose! The rebel gave a fanged grin as he raised himself to his full height, slithering away from the hole.

"Now to find sssome food," he said, looking around. He spotted Kenward's Riolu messenger and smirk. "Perfect!"

Slithering forward, he began to plan a perfect way to ambush the canine...unaware of the threat flying above him.

Silently, the two Noctowl swept down, diving gracefully towards the Arbok, while the Golbat swooped towards it more noisily, with as great a speed as he could muster.

The Arbok instantly looked up, glaring as Nayan swooped toward it. "Not today, bat! My blood will not be part of your feassst!" it hissed, ducking away.

The Riolu yelped, spotting the Arbok. "Run!" he cried, dashing back toward Kenward's troops. "Arbok! Help!"

"You made my meal essscape! Wretched bat!" Arbok hissed. "You will pay for thisss!"

The Golbat flapped onto the ground in front of the Arbok, stretching out his wings to emphasize his size. That typically intimidated creatures, what with his being about five feet tall to start with.

"It will be you, Arbok. That was one of Lord Ninetales' soldiers; I am a captain in service of our lord. You will be punished as such."

He gave a harsh little whistle, and the two Noctowl that had been diving towards the Arbok raked their claws forward, slashing at its hood.

The Arbok snarled in rage, whipping around and snapping at the two Noctowl. "Ssstupid birdsss! You ssshall pay!"

He swiped with his tail, attempting to drive them off. He watched Nayan out of the corner of his eye, knowing the Golbat could be a huge threat if those fangs got him.

The two Noctowl gladly and immediately left the Arbok, to instead circle above him by about fifteen feet. One had been hit with the tail strike, but other than some ruffled feathers in that section it appeared alright.

Captain Nayan folded his wings to a more manageable size, and began to step forward towards the Arbok.

The rebel Arbok turned to face the approaching Golbat, puffing up as large as he could. He hissed threateningly, baring his needle-sharp fangs. "Ssstep any clossser and I'll ssstrike!" he warned. "Ssstop where you ssstand and I'll ssstrike! Flee and you may sssurvive! Choossse wisssely, bat!"

The Golbat gave another whistle while the Arbok was focused on him, and acting immediately upon the signal, his Noctowl dove down to strike the Arbok with their claws again, and fly off before it got them.

Also, Captain Nayan took another step forward.

"I will not suffer you to live if you continue resistance."

"And if I sssurrender?" Arbok challenged. "Regardlesssss, I ssstill die! But I will be sssure to take you down with me, bat!"

The serpent lunged, aiming his fangs at Nayan's wings in an attempt to stop him from flying away.

Captain Nayan immediately flapped out his wings from covering himself. One of them got pricked a bit by the Arbok's teeth, but it wasn't an expected move, and so the Arbok hadn't gotten a decent grip. Now the Golbat's gaping jaws faced towards the Arbok; several feet tall, his mouth was an intimidating sight. Leaping forward, he tried biting the Arbok.

Arbok hissed, moving out of the way as quickly as he could. He aimed his fangs at the Golbat's turned back. "You die now, pesssky bat!"

.o.o.o.o.

"Captain Kenward, help!" the Riolu cried.

"What is it?" the Charmeleon asked, peering out from his makeshift shelter.

"Captain Nayan and his two Noctowl are fighting a rebel Arbok! It tried to eat me!" the Riolu cried.

"You think Captain Nayan can do this on his own?" Kenward asked.

"Probably, but I thought I should report it anyway," the Riolu said.

"Good job," Kenward nodded, dismissing the puppy.

.o.o.o.o.

The Golbat had turned around as quickly as possible when the Arbok had slithered away, but he hadn't entirely prepared for the strike, and gave a grunt of pain as the side of his jaw was bitten clear through. The fangs had pierced clear into his skin; fortunately, the area around his mouth lacked important blood vessels. It did hurt an incredible amount, however. He knew that Arbok really couldn't cut with their teeth, only being good at stabbing prey with their fangs (if possible) and holding them in place while a venom killed their victims; fortunately, he also knew that Golbat had wonderful tolerance of Arbok venom, if not being entirely immune. And since the fangs weren't in blood vessels, anyway...

Maneuvering around, the Golbat tried to chomp his own blood-draining fangs into the hood of the Arbok. A very awkward move that could only use about half of his fangs if it worked, but then the Arbok wasn't in much of a position to be moving out of the way, either.

The Arbok screeched in pain as the fangs pierced his hood, instantly attempting to rip away. "Get off of me, ssstupid bat!" he demanded.

Captain Nayan flinched as the small bit of mouth flesh was ripped from him, but by that point he'd gotten a bit of a grip on the hood, and he could maneuver his other fangs into position. He tried siphoning blood as fast as possible out of the fangs he did have in the Arbok; he wanted it to collapse as soon as possible.

The Arbok hissed in agony, struggling as much as he possibly could. His strength was beginning to fail him, though. _No! I can't...die like thisss!_

The Golbat continued draining blood, as the struggles began to grow less. But he didn't finish up the Arbok, or drain enough to kill. Instead, once its writhing had lessened to little, he gave a short command to one of his Noctowl to land next to him, while blood seeped from the Arbok's once proud hood.

"Get that Riolu to come back here."

With that, the Noctowl departed to the air, scanning for the small creature for but a moment before locating it near Kenward.

"Captain Kenward! We have subdued another rebel. It's unfortunate that it began to rain; normally, it is only cloudy here... Please, don't think that we invited you here to put your life at risk. My captain has asked for your Riolu soldier to come back to where it was attacked by the rebel. Will you permit this, captain?"

Kenward nodded. "I understand. I should've known better. It's call _Storm_crash Ruins for a reason, right?" He looked at the Riolu, who had just ducked back into the shelter. "Go with this guy and see Captain Nayan. He needs you for something."

"Yes, sir!" The Riolu saluted before looking at the Noctowl. "Where to, sir?"

"I'll guide you," curtly replied the Noctowl, before beginning to fly at a pace the Riolu could keep up with to where the weakened Arbok and Captain Nayan were.

"You are the Riolu attacked by this villain, here, correct?" asked the Golbat. Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "I've asked for your presence here for one reason. Would you like revenge on this Arbok? He's in your paws. A pathetic creature, now," spat the Golbat, ignoring the small amounts of blood finally beginning to seep through the small, jagged rip in the side of his gaping mouth.

"You can crush the life out of him, right here, right now, if you so wish. He attacked you first, I want you to know that you can get in the final strike if you so desire." Captain Nayan said, now glaring at the Riolu expectantly.

The Arbok looked at the Riolu, silently pleading for mercy. The Riolu frowned before raising a paw.

"Sure," he said.

The serpent screeched in agony as a Force Palm crashed into his back, a loud crunch signaling that something had broken. The Riolu kept up the punishment, ceasing when the Arbok was nearly dead.

"That'll teach you rebels to stand up to Lord Ninetales," he said coldly.

"Thisss provesss how cruel your preccciousss lord isss," the Arbok hissed brokenly, blood running from his mouth.

"No," The Riolu shook his head. "Our lord is perfect. It's you rebels that are the problem. Stand down before we're forced to kill all of you." He turned to Nayan. "Do with him as you will now. I'm going back to Captain Kenward. We have to come up with a way to get Captain Kenward safely home if this rain persists after we finish searching the ruins."

Captain Nayan didn't feel the need to remove any blood. He'd had a nice dinner those hours ago, and with the snack of blood before he'd gotten the Riolu come over, he didn't feel the need for anything. Leaving the Arbok to die of whatever, he took to the air, shortly followed by his Noctowl after they'd taken a few pecks out of the still-living body.

"How to get that Charmeleon out of this? A disaster. I suppose we could cover his flame the way back out of the storm, once he's ready."

.o.o.o.o.

Captain Kenward rested against the back of the rubble shelter he was in. "When is this rain going to stop?" he wondered.

.o.o.o.o.

Jabel sighed, resting against the door of her hideout. "Is this rain ever going to end?" she wondered.

Sabiya, Flower, and Vespera were still fast asleep behind her.

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales was walking through Fiery Field, his eyes downcast. _I never expected to see him again- What will he do to me?_

.o.o.o.o.

Skule panted for breath, blood still dripping from the various wounds Jossar and Ninetales had inflicted on him. "Bastards!" he hissed, his numb paw beginning to regain feeling. "Damn it! I'll kill them! The next time I see them, I'll kill them! That'll teach him to trick me! DO YOU HEAR ME, NINETALES?!"

A loud crack of thunder answered his cry, followed by a flash of lightning. Exhausted, the Houndoom hung his head and carried on. He never noticed that he was beginning to near the Evergreen River.

.o.o.o.o.

The Politoed continued humming on his patch of shoreline on the Evergreen River. Now it was beginning to start up with the lightning, and he was contemplating getting back inside. As much as he loved the rain and water, he didn't want to get shocked!

.o.o.o.o.

Skule coughed, growing weaker due to the rain. "Damn rain... Go away..." he whimpered. He never noticed a Politoed further upstream from where he was walking.

.o.o.o.o.

Edin sang a little croaking tune that hung in the misty air as the torrents fell from the sky. He was curled up in a ball with only his webbed feet touching the ground; it wasn't like the pathetic storehouse of that fraction of his wealth was all that well constructed against lightning, anyway, and he figured he might as well enjoy the rain.

Suddenly, he noticed the injured Skule some distance away from him.

"Hey! You all right?" he called out.

Skule jumped at being spoken to, instantly falling into an attack stance. Pain suddenly shot through his injured paw and, along with his currently weakened state due to the rain, collapsed to the muddy ground. The Houndoom didn't even have the strength to use a simple Ember anymore.

_This cannot be how my life ends,_ he thought. _I'm supposed to go out in a glorious battle! I can't die by a filthy Politoed in the rain!_

"Are you alright?" the Politoed repeated.

_Some kind of injured Houndoom out in the rain... Probably needs help. It's a nice day, I can throw him a bone and help him for free. It's nice to have people in my debt._

"Hey, don't worry, I can just get you right on over to some medical help," the Politoed said, pointing right towards Ninetales' palace.

Skule, too weak to reply, simply gave up. If he was lucky, the Politoed would be merciful and end his life quickly. If not...

The Houndoom rebel leader suddenly spotted Ninetales' palace in the distance. A plan formed in his twisted mind and he smiled. _If Ninetales wants to play using tricks, then so will I! I'll burn his pretty little palace down! That'll teach him to cheat in a battle with me!_

Edin watched the Houndoom start up a grin, and took it to mean 'yes, help me'.

"Alright, then, I'll take you there... Hope you don't mind, my skin's kind of wet, but you need help with that leg."

With that, the Politoed began to pick up the Houndoom, straining to carry the weight- a bit more than himself, but he had carried more before. Carting around all that gold had helped him. Edin trudged towards the palace, carrying the wounded creature. He wasn't sure if he could actually get him through the gates, he had no idea what security was like these days or what questions they would ask. But surely they could spare a nurse to tend to the guy, or at least give him some shelter? He'd remembered that they'd do that occasionally, back in the day.

Skule nodded, ignoring the Politoed's wet skin as he was carried toward the palace. He ignored his surroundings, coming up with plans. He couldn't risk messing up now. It might just be the end of him.

_Once we get to the gates, I'll have to take out the guards before they can sound an alarm. My wounded leg can handle my weight temporarily...I hope,_ he thought. _I can use the Politoed as a way to jump on top of the gates. An Iron Tail, maybe a few Fire Fangs for good measure, should be able to kill the guards. If there are any Flying-types, I'll need to roast them before they can call for help or get too far away._

Another crazy grin spread across Skule's face. He was going to have fun with this. Too much fun, if that was even possible.

The Politoed began to violently cough and tremble under the Houndoom's weight, but he marched on, until he'd gotten to the gates.

"Hello!" he shouted, hoping that his loud voice would carry up to the tall gates.

"I'm the former Captain Edin! This Houndoom I'm carrying, I found 'em wounded in the leg out in the rain! Can we get any medical help here, or where should I put 'em fer shelter?"

He was, of course, entirely unaware that he'd delivered the feared and hated Skule directly to the Ninetales' fortress.

.o.o.o.o.

Inside of the palace, Kanika and Nicolo were still sleeping. They were unaware of the danger lurking outside...

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales felt the rain sting his face as he exited Fiery Field. "The gods have cursed me." He muttered as he started toward the coast. The eastern shores were his destination, for better or for worse.

.o.o.o.o.

Lunare sat on the roof of a building, feeling the raindrops roll down his face. "Arceus is crying." He said quietly. "Where are you, my Lord? Are you harmed, in more ways than one?

"Are you questioning yourself, for something beyond your control? Please be safe, my Lord..."

.o.o.o.o.

Ebony Village. A small coastal town. Nothing that would have attracted Ninetales' attention. At the small gates, a Geodude stared out from under a rock outcropping. "Damn this rain." It muttered, looking woefully up at the storm clouds.

Ninetales approached the Geodude. "Hello."

"Sorry, gate's closed."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Some stupid fox that's gonna make me loose my job."

"I'm Lord Ninetales."

"Like hell!"

"Seriously."

"Yeah, and I'm Groudon."

"You really want me to prove it?" Ninetales asked, looking annoyed.

"I doubt you can." The Geodude rolled its eyes.

Ninetales promptly grabbed the Geodude and flung him into a puddle, leaving him to shriek and cough as the blood-colored fox slipped into Ebony Village.

.o.o.o.o.

Skule grinned. _Wait for it..._

He wanted to see the looks of terror on the guards' faces when they caught sight of him. He wanted himself to be the last thing they saw before he leapt on top of the gates and killed them. He wanted to hear their screams before they died.

Another twisted grin appeared on his face. His hind legs tensed, preparing to spring.

The Politoed was a bit confused as the Houndoom began to tense up. "What is it? I'm holding you wrong or something?"

The guard Houndoom stalked up. "Who is this?" He growled.

"I have no idea. He's some Houndoom I found maybe ten minutes ago." Edin replied.

"I can't let him in if I don't know who he is!" The Houndoom snapped, hissing as the rain touched him.

"Well, okay. Can you all get some sort of medical assistance out, then?" asked the Politoed, somewhat irritated.

"I'm not the flipping doorman!" The Houndoom growled.

"Actually-" One of the Kabutops at the top of the gate commented.

"SHUT UP!" The Houndoom yelled. Turning to the Politoed, he forced a grin. "I'll see what I can do, in the meantime, keep him dry."

"I'll try..." the Politoed muttered, as he retreated with the Houndoom to under a tree. At least it was somewhat less wet there.

The Houndoom shot a Flamethrower into the air, and a Taillow came whizzing down to him. "What is it, sir?" It asked expectantly.

"Get a medic for that Houndoom over there." The Houndoom barked.

"Right away, sir!" The Taillow whizzed away.

Skule smirked. _Idiotic fools,_ he thought.

Pulling away from the Politoed, he limped toward the edge of the cover the tree provided and looked up at the Houndoom sentry. Coughing slightly, he altered his voice a bit and spoke. "Would Lord Ninetales happen to be in?" he asked, his voice a bit deeper than normal.

_What a poor example of my own species,_ Skule mentally commented. _It's a shame he will most likely die. The Taillow and the medic will most certainly die. The Politoed, though... I have him to thank for allowing me to break into this place. I'll leave him alive._

"I can't tell you that." The Houndoom answered shortly. He cocked his head as he looked at the other Houndoom. "...Do I know you from somewhere? You look awfully familiar..."

Skule grinned. "I should hope so," he replied. "I've been around these parts for...quite a long time. Maybe you've heard of me...?" _Wait for the medic,_ he thought. _Once the medic appears, then I'll attack. Can't have them screaming for help when they see the guard and the Taillow torn to shreds in front of them._

"I don't seem to recall any particularly famous Houndoom..." said the Politoed, before immediately turning and apologizing to the gate guardian for the minor slight. Turning back to Skule, he asked, "Er, well, anyway, who are you, again?"

The Houndoom peered closer at Skule, then his eyes widened in shock. A Chansey waddled out of the gate, smiling.

Meanwhile, in the brush, a pair of red eyes watched Skule intently.

A twisted grin spread across Skule's face. "Oh, I'm sure you all know me very well."

Seeing the Chansey walking out of the gates, Skule decided it was time to attack. Dashing forward as quickly as he could, he threw a single Iron Tail toward the Normal-type before taking a giant leap. He landed on top of the gates and faced the Houndoom guard. He already had a Fire Blast building up in his jaws, aiming it at the Taillow.

"I AM SKULE, REBEL LEADER!" Skule roared, flames exploding from his jaws a split-second later. "AND THIS PALACE…IS NOW MINE!"

.o.o.o.o.

Kanika woke up, yawning. She noticed Nicolo whimpering, fresh blood soaking the bandages on his broken front legs.

"Nic?" she squeaked.

"Ow... Help...please..." the Poochyena whimpered.

"Nurse?" The Starly stood up, looking toward the locked door of their...room, seeing as it wasn't really a cell. "Nurse? Is anyone there? Nic needs help! Hello?"

The pair was unaware of the attack taking place outside of Onyx Palace, on top of its front gates...

.o.o.o.o.

The Chansey yelped and rolled away.

The Taillow screamed and fell to the ground, singed and dying.

The Houndoom snarled and retaliated with a Fire Blast of his own. "LIKE HELL!" He roared.

The Politoed stared as the Houndoom leapt up the wall, temporarily unable to comprehend what was happening.

But... Wait, wasn't he... but... Houndoom... Skule... Skule? The... That Skule?

It suddenly hit the Politoed that he had directly taken the cursed monster right to the heart of Ninetales' control, and as this occurred to him, he dropped to the ground, paralyzed by fear, regret, anger, loathing... He could only watch helplessly as the Taillow was blasted out of the sky.

.o.o.o.o.

As Ninetales walked into the town square, a Whiscash floated out of a small cave nearby.

"Lord Ninetales. Why have you come here?" He rumbled, looking wary.

Ninetales winced as the wound on his back throbbed. "...I have come to see..." He almost choked on the last word. "...Theta."

The Whiscash looked ominous. "The traitor? You know that he is dangerous. Why would you risk your life to try and talk to him?"

"..." Ninetales didn't answer right away, but the Whiscash shook his body sadly.

"Do what you will. He is of no concern to us." Turning, the elder floated back into his cave, leaving Ninetales alone in the rain.

.o.o.o.o.

Jabel shook herself, trying not to fall asleep. "This rain doesn't look like it's going to let up," she noted. "Weird..."

Sabiya, Flower, and Vespera kept sleeping.

.o.o.o.o.

Skule jumped back, smirking as the Taillow died. He charged, tail aglow as he unleashed a second Iron Tail. Black smoke poured from his jaws, his fangs burning a bright orange color.

"DIE!" he roared, attacking.

The Houndoom snarled, jumping above Skule and attacking with his own Iron Tail.

Skule gritted his teeth as the twin glowing tails collided, his wounded leg throbbing with pain. Tearing away, he pounced and sank his burning fangs into the guard's back. He bit down with all his might, trying to break the other Houndoom's spine.

Edin, now belatedly realizing the danger, clumsily hopped up onto the little tower with all of his strength, toppling when he landed right on Skule.

"GRAAAH!" Skule howled, releasing the guard as the Politoed landed on him.

His wounded leg practically screamed with pain as the extra weight put even more pressure on the injured limb. Throwing Edin off, Skule backed up and bared his teeth at him. Now he was pissed.

"How _dare_ you!" he growled.

The Politoed's mind ran blank for a moment with terror as the growling Skule faced him down.

Had he just attacked Skule, the orchestrator of so many horrors? Why? He could have just hopped away...

Shaking, the Politoed vomited a lot of water from fear, rather conveniently aimed at the Houndoom... Both, actually, though the latter incident obviously was not so convenient.

The Houndoom guard yelped and staggered away, trying to stay conscious.

"GRAAAH!" Skule stumbled away, falling off the edge of the watch tower. He fell down on the side nearest to Onyx Palace. Shaking himself off and staggering to his feet, Skule smirked. "That Politoed helps me yet again. How ironic..."

He dashed toward the palace, easily shoving open the doors with Strength. He raced through the hallways, a wild smirk on his face. _Should I take over this place? Or should I burn it to the ground? Oh, hell! Who cares? I'm in and that's all that counts!_

The Politoed, panicking, but glad that Skule at least wasn't still around him at the moment, rushed to the other Houndoom to help.

"My... are you okay? This is horrible, I had no idea that that... that... is there some sort of alarm howl you have, or something? I don't remember."

He tried to brush off a bit of the water out of the Houndoom's fur with his drier webbed fingers, knowing that the rest of his skin was too damp and slimy to work for that.

"No- Time!" The Houndoom gasped. "Have to- Get - Lord Ninetales!"

"But... the Pokemon inside the fortress! They need to be told," protested Edin.

The Houndoom threw back his head and shot a blast of fire into the air, which exploded high above them.

"... Well, okay then. I'll just... do something, I suppose..." muttered the Politoed.

He actually had no idea what he was going to try and do. He wanted to leave, of course, but that didn't seem wise...

The Houndoom staggered to his paws, snarling in pain. "Bastard!" He growled, then slumped forward, barely stirring.

"Yes?" the Politoed asked. "Are you alright, or..?"

The Houndoom had slipped into unconsciousness, and his last thought was that of how badly Ninetales was gonna punish him...

"... Well, I guess that's an answer. Need to get you somewhere where it's not raining, but... well, inside isn't safe..."

Closing his eyes for a moment, the Politoed eventually decided on just dragging him up on a small pile of timbers under an overhang. Not pleasant to lie on, but better for him than getting soaked, at least.

"Now what?" he pondered.

.o.o.o.o.

Lucy stared out of the window, her eyes widening as she saw the flames. "Someone is inside... Guards!" The Persian ran out of the throne room, where a Wartortle and a Quilava were standing guard outside the doors.

"What is it?" The Quilava asked.

"The alarm has been sent! There is an intruder!" Lucy growled, her claws extending.

The Wartortle nodded. "We'll get them out, in one piece or one hundred!"

.o.o.o.o.

In front of Skule, a small Bulbasaur stood in his way. "Leave now, Skule." Rell intoned quietly.

"Well, well," Skule chuckled. "What are you going to do, little Bulbasaur? A Grass-type versus a Fire-type? I think we both know who will be the winner."

The Houndoom overheard calls of help from a room not far behind Rell. He decided to check it out once he dealt with the meddling Bulbasaur. Not bothering with anymore words, he unleashed a powerful Fire Blast upon Rell.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" he roared.

Rell threw up a Protect, refusing to move. "Leave, Skule."

"Why should I?!" Skule snarled, charging with his tail aglow. "I'll kill every last servant of that blasted fox, just as he killed mine! HE WILL PAY FOR EVERYTHING HE HAS DONE!"

He smashed an Iron Tail against the barrier Rell's Protect created before leaping over it. He ran toward the room Nic and Kanika was in, a twisted grin forming on his face.

.o.o.o.o.

Kanika continued to call for help, only to start coughing. "What the?! It smells like something's on fire!" she realized.

"Nnn...?" Nicolo was drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness.

"Nic, hang on!" the Starly cried. "Help! Can anybody hear me?! Help!"

Lucy smashed down the door to Nic and Kanika's room. "Skule is attacking!" She hissed. "We have to get you out!"

"We can't! Nic's hurt! He's bleeding!" Kanika cried. "Please, help him! He might be dying!" She was flapping her wings frantically, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Lucy snarled, grabbing the Poochyena's scruff and starting toward the door.

.o.o.o.o.

Rell's vines shot after Skule, wrapping around his legs. "You won't live." Rell stated calmly.

"Back off, brat!" Skule snarled, twisting around and breathing flames onto Rell's vines.

His injured paw throbbed with pain but he ignored it, tearing free. He skidded to a stop in front of the room Nic and Kanika were in, smirking. He had boxed the pair of rebels and Lucy inside.

"Why hello there," he chuckled. "Trying to run? I don't think so."

"AAAAH!" Kanika flapped away from the door. "It's Skule! He's here!" she screamed.

"Wha...?" Nic struggled to open his eyes, trying to wake up.

Rell's vines were burnt, but others wrapped around Skule's neck and chest.

"GRAAAH! You don't know when to give up, do you?!" Skule snarled.

His fangs began to glow bright orange and he sank them into the vines around his neck, black smoke curling up from the burning vines.

Lucy dropped Nic, her hackles rising. "Back off!" She hissed, her eyes slits.

Nic whimpered as he was dropped, pain shooting through his broken front paws. Kanika kept screaming, flapping her wings desperately as she flew around the tiny room at high speed. She was panicking.

"I wouldn't be so quick to hand out judgment." Rell replied, shooting Razor Leaves at Skule. "Leave that to Giratina when he is sending your soul to the deepest level of the Torn World."

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales slipped into the crack in the rock wall behind the village, passing by the Graveler guards. He repressed a shiver as he crept through the dark tunnel, his eyes straining to find who he was looking for.

As the tunnel gradually widened into a small cavern, Ninetales heard a faint sound echoing through the tunnel. He realized that it was singing. A song that drifted through the stale air, piercing the fox's heart.

"_And upon a summer breeze, the night's greatest triumph..."_

Ninetales shuddered again, heading toward the voice, which was emerging from the tunnel on the other side of the cavern. He squeezed through the crack, his whole body screaming at him to run, to flee. But he must do this. He had to.

"_Once again, the wind fulfills its eternal promise, the greatest of them all..."_

The haunting melody brought back memories the fox did not want to remember. As he headed towards a light at the end of the tunnel, he sank his claws into the dirt floor of the tunnel. He suppressed a snarl as he slipped into a smaller cavern, lit by a glowing stone embedded in the wall. Sitting on a rock, his sightless brown eyes glinting in the stone-light, an Eevee was singing. His melody was both seductive and terrible, haunting and soothing.

Ninetales made no noise as the Eevee finished the song, turning his head slightly in his direction.

"…What is the point of music, if there is no one around to appreciate it?" The Eevee asked, tilting his head.

"…" Ninetales didn't answer.

"It is just perfect the way it is." The Eevee flicked his tail. "It needs only to be heard by one being, and that being could make the most of it." The Eevee settled more comfortably on the rock. "So tell me, old friend, why have you bothered to visit me in my cold and lonely prison?"

Ninetales let out a hiss of anger. "…You…are _not-_" He spat out the words like bullets, his eyes full of fire. "_My __**friend!**_"

"It's a matter of perspective." The Eevee murmured.

"PERSPECTIVE!" Ninetales shrieked, his voice echoing against the walls of the cave. He snarled, his tails lashing. "…You try seeing things from _my_ perspective, you bastard!"

"You're giving me a headache." The Eevee muttered, flattening his ears.

"I could rip your head off, would that make it better?" Ninetales growled, taking an unsteady step forward. "You little demon…"

"Why are you so eager to hate me? After all, I gave you an entire kingdom." The Eevee asked, tilting his head.

"You made me into a monster!" Ninetales screamed, striking the Eevee and sending him slamming into the cave wall. "You TWISTED ME! You tore apart my heart and made me your slave! Your foolish ambition cost me my sanity! It cost me EVERYTHING!"

The Eevee struggled to his paws, but Ninetales wrapped his claws around the little Pokemon's throat.

"Give me any reason. I'm begging you!" Ninetales hissed, tightening his grip and causing the Eevee to choke. "Please!"

The Eevee didn't answer.

Ninetales snarled and removed his claws, his tails lashing angrily. The Eevee slowly got back to his paws, looking shaken. "…You never could, Ninetales. You never could."

Ninetales was unresponsive, the only sign of life about him were his claws, sinking in and out of the dirt.

"Why did you come here?" The Eevee asked, sitting back on his rock.

"…" Ninetales shook his head, his eyes clamped shut.

"You didn't come to kill me." The Eevee persisted. "You came with a question. It is burning you."

"…I came to ask…" Ninetales shook his head again. "…Was it worth it? What you made me do?"

The Eevee tilted his head. "…That would depend whether you care about Azerra."

"I care!" Ninetales shuddered. "…I've always cared…"

"Then it was worth it." The Eevee murmured. "Make the most of it."

.o.o.o.o.

Sabiya sat up, yawning. "What's going on?" she asked, looking toward Jabel.

"It's still raining. It's been going on for hours now and I don't think it's letting up anytime soon." the Wartortle replied.

"Oh," The Pikachu walked toward the door and peered out, watching the rain drench the city. "So we're not going anywhere anytime soon, right?"

"Right," Jabel nodded.

Dama stared out of the window, thinking.

Sabiya turned to look at Dama. "Dama... Why did you become a rebel?" she asked, trying to make a conversation.

"Ninetales killed my mom." Dama muttered.

"Oh," Sabiya looked toward one of the small windows of Jabel's base and sighed. "My parents died three years ago. They used to be guards of the White Palace. They died defending the palace."

She watched the rain pouring outside and sighed, her eyes sad. She clutched her emerald pendant tighter.

"When the three great leaders died, I couldn't just stand by as a murderer ruled our land. I had to do something," she said. "That's why I'm a rebel. I will avenge our great leaders' deaths, even if I must kill Ninetales with my own two hands!"

Unaware to the Pikachu, Vespera opened her eyes. _So I'm not alone in having something against Lord Ninetales,_ she thought. _Sabiya wants revenge. Dama possibly wants revenge, too. I just want to be free of suspicion from everyone around me. Could there be...more like us? Could we even...win against Lord Ninetales? Or will we join the countless Pokemon that he has already slain?_

.o.o.o.o.

Edin was still panicking over what to do.

"Aw, oh... What can I do? If I go in, I die, if not... I'm as good as a traitor! I brought the guy here... Should've recognized him. Should have drowned the Houndoom. No, I had to think of whatever favors... Aw, screw it, I'm going in," muttered the Politoed, before making sure that the Houndoom guard was defended from the soaking, and going into the dark castle.

.o.o.o.o.

"Oh, I don't have to worry about that! I'll be dragging you and Ninetales there with me!" Skule roared, using a Fire Blast to burn up the leaves flying at him. "But first, I have to rebuild the army your beloved lord stole from me! Then I'll steal this kingdom from him! He doesn't deserve it!"

He lunged forward, snatching up Nic in his jaws. Kanika screamed, watching as the devil dog took a running leap over Rell. The Starly found herself following, not wanting to lose the only friend she had.

Lucy pounced, her claws sinking into Skule's chest and ripping down his stomach.

Skule howled in pain, blood staining his fur. He whipped around, an Iron Tail aimed at the Persian's head. "OUT OF MY WAY, BLASTED CAT!" he roared.

Nic whimpered at the loud noise so close to his ears. Kanika kept her distance, watching the fight in horror.

Lucy ducked. "Leave them alone!" She spat angrily, her fur on end as she bit Skule's tail.

"GRAAAAH!" Skule roared in pain, whipping his tail around to try and throw off the Persian. "Release me, you useless furball!"

Lucy bit down harder, snarling and trying to swipe at the Houndoom.

"Get...OFF!" Skule smashed his tail into the floor and the surrounding walls, trying to dislodge her.

Lucy wouldn't let go. Even as her body was battered, she kept holding on. Red spots flashed in front of her eyes, and pain shot through her, though it was all turning to mist...

.o.o.o.o.

The Politoed dashed in.

He could hear the sounds of a scuffle a bit of a distance away... If only he wasn't so awkwardly shaped for going fast!

But he could faintly see some large, pale-ish Pokemon biting down on something dark…

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales was streaking toward the palace, his breath coming in painful gasps. As he topped a hill, he saw smoke emerging from one of the windows. "Shit." He charged forward, the wound on his back acting up.

.o.o.o.o.

"LET-" Skule raised his tail, glowing anew as he readied one last Iron Tail. "GO!"

He crashed his tail into the floor as hard as he could, the force cracking the ground slightly. His injured front paw ached with the effort of the struggle. He panted for breath, waiting to feel if the Persian let go of him...or if she had the strength left to keep fighting him.

"Are you dead yet, stupid cat?" Skule asked, coughing slightly.

He was fighting to keep his grip on Nic, who had fallen unconscious yet again. Kanika kept flapping nearby, eyes wide in terror.

Lucy coughed feebly, refusing to let go. She couldn't... Not now...

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales crashed into the palace, panting. He could smell the smoke now, and ran towards it, his eyes wide.

.o.o.o.o.

The Politoed, rushing through the hall, saw that it was indeed that Houndoom, right in front of him.

He sprang, aiming to tackle the Pokemon down.

.o.o.o.o.

"Well, no matter. Your nine lives are up, cat!" Skule snarled.

He never got the chance to use another Iron Tail. He roared as the Politoed crashed into him, jarring his injured front paw. The Houndoom's jaws snapped open, releasing Nic. The Poochyena yelped as he hit the floor, pain shooting through his broken limbs. Kanika flapped to his side, watching the battle in horror.

"Damn you, frog!" Skule roared, snapping his burning fangs at the Politoed in anger. All thought of the Persian clinging weakly to his tail were forgotten in his rage.

Edin croaked loudly as pain shot through him from the stabbing punctures from the bite, although the burning wasn't so much of an issue to him, having very moist skin.

In return, he spat a load of water over the wrathful Houndoom, hoping to weaken him like he'd been when the Politoed had picked him up.

If only he'd just drowned this one in the river!

Lucy cried out as she let go of the Houndoom's tail. She landed on the floor with a thud, coughing feebly.

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales streaked down the hallway, and when he heard Lucy's cry, he shouted. "LUCY!"

.o.o.o.o.

"GRAAAAH!" Skule stumbled away, smoke pouring from his jaws as he unleashed a Smokescreen. "Damn frog!"

He lunged forward, snatching up Nic again and tearing down the hallway through the smoke. Kanika, realizing her friend was gone, flew desperately after them.

Wild thoughts rushed through Skule's mind as he ran. _So close! Why did this happen?! Damn cat! Damn frog! So many interferences! They'll pay! I'll kill them all! Rip out their insides and use them as curtains before I blow this place to kingdom come! Then they'll know! They'll die! Every last goddamn one of them! DIE!_

He had no idea he was on a collision course with the very Pokemon that had decimated his army only hours ago.

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales spotted Skule, and ran still faster, his jaws crackling with lightning. "Bastard!" He screamed, charging.

The Politoed had been charging after the Houndoom again, but he stopped cold when he saw the Ninetales.

He'd never felt quite settled around his leader, especially not crazed and with jaws blazing with electric death. It actually occurred to him there that maybe he should just leave. After all, he'd brought Skule here, even if it was unintentional... At any rate, he hoped that the water on Skule would make that encounter especially painful for the monster.

Skule's eyes widened in shock as he fought to stop running. _Damn! How did he get here so fast?! Did he follow me?! The bastard! He won't humiliate me twice in one day! This is my time to shine! Not that damn fox's!_

He succeeded in skidding to a stop and spotted a window to his left. He could jump out of it and flee with his newly found prizes. The Poochyena would need major healing but the Starly could come in handy. If he was going to flee, he had to do it now or risk falling victim to that deadly Thunder Fang that had already damaged his front paw. If it hit his throat, chest, or head, it could kill him instantly.

Coming to a decision, he expertly turned and dove toward the window. If he got there in time, he could escape and burn the palace down from the outside. If Ninetales got to him first...

He didn't think about that. Why think of death when there was still a chance you could live?

Ninetales pounced, missing Skule, but shattering the window. Lightning exploded into the corridor, then subsided.

.o.o.o.o.

The Politoed hopped to the window the two Pokemon had left from, head in his webbed hands.

He could only hope that the Ninetales got the Houndoom, or else he'd personally be a target of it, probably... But what would his leader do to him for letting the monster inside in the first place? He couldn't even help, the two were so close that any attack from him was just as liable to hurt Ninetales as Skule, especially with the electricity...

.o.o.o.o.

Skule dove out the window, grinning. "Thanks for breaking the glass, _Lord_ Ninetales!" he said mockingly.

Landing in the wet grass outside, he dropped Nic and unleashed one final Fire Blast through the now-broken window. He succeeded in catching the curtains on fire and his grin widened as the fire began to spread. _I'll burn this damn place down yet!_ he thought.

Snatching up Nic again, he dashed toward the gates. Kanika flew after him, not wanting to be separated from the only friend she had.

"Now you have a choice to make, Ninetales! Chase me or save your palace!" Skule cried. "Either way, you lose something!"

The Houndoom laughed maniacally as he reached the gates. Only a few yards away would be freedom. He prepared to leap, hesitating to see what choice Ninetales would make.

.o.o.o.o.

The Politoed had had no choice but to jump down and out after he saw the Houndoom firing up the attack. It was that, or to be burned however much by staying in its path.

Horrified at this development, he tried shooting some water back at the curtains, once he had recovered himself from the fall.

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales snarled, torn. His heart thudded against his chest, and he felt like he was a puny Vulpix again, listening to Theta hiss in his ear.

_"Kill them._"

Blood roaring in his ears, Ninetales prepared to leap out of the window when he heard Lucy's coughing cry. Terror filled his veins as he turned to find where the Persian had been trapped.

"LUCY!" Ninetales shouted, streaking down the corridor.

Skule grinned even wider as he jumped, landing on top of the guard's gate. Leaping to the ground on the other side, he raced away with a wounded Poochyena in his jaws and a Starly flying at his heels.

_My new army will start with these two,_ he decided. _Ninetales is probably either dead or injured thanks to that fire. It won't spread too much since the damn place is made of stone but the smoke should be able to kill some of his beloved servants. In choosing his palace, he lost his chance at hunting me down. What a fool you are, Ninetales!_

He would've laughed out loud if he wasn't currently carrying Nic in his mouth. He settled for laughing in his mind instead as he ran across the rainy land in search of a place to hide and rest. He had a lot of work ahead of him...

.o.o.o.o.

Ninetales sprang into the smoke filled room, then spotted Lucy lying on the ground. He grabbed her by the scruff and dragged her out of the burning room.

A Wartortle waddled towards them, spraying water on the flames.

.o.o.o.o.

Water dribbled out of the Politoed's mouth once he had the curtains extinguished.

"That ought to work."

He looked off into the distance, to where Skule had disappeared, and sighed.

"I'll just go and check on that guard, I guess... Hope the water didn't get to him too badly."

With that, he waddled over to where he had left the Houndoom guard.

The Houndoom guard was still unconscious, but he was breathing normally.

The Politoed looked around nervously, trying to shake him up. Probably wouldn't work, but...

.o.o.o.o.

Skule grinned as he saw no sign of Ninetales pursuing him. _Chose to save his precious servants over hunting me down. Typical..._ He continued to run, intent on rebuilding his army from whatever unfortunate Pokemon he happened to come across.

.o.o.o.o.

Sabiya looked out the window of their hiding place. "Looks like the rain is lightening up," she commented. "About time."

Dama nodded, jolting from his half awake state.

Sabiya laughed when Dama jolted. "Sorry. Did I spook you?"

Jabel stepped in the door. "Rain's almost gone. Sun should be rising soon." the Wartortle reported. "We might be able to go out and get something to eat since that Torchic messed up our dinner last night."

"Yeah," the Pikachu nodded.

.o.o.o.o.

The Golbat captain looked over the clouds, the rainfall beginning to lessen- although he knew that over this section, the clouds would probably not break up.

"... At least some part of this is redeemable. Now we can move our forces out, and get you somewhere where you are more... efficient. Again, my apologies for the invitation. I'd forgotten," he apologized once more to the Charmeleon.

"It's okay," Kenward replied. "It was my own fault. It's not called _Storm_crash Ruins for nothing. Storms usually include rain."

The Charmeleon stepped out from the overhang and sighed in relief as the rain lightened. His army surrounded him, joyful to see their commander safe and sound.

"Let's finish the hunt and get out of here before it starts raining again." Kenward advised, looking up at the sky nervously. He didn't want to get stuck in the rain again.

Nayan shook a wing free from water.

"Well, if you say so. Everyone, let's move out of here, get Captain Kenward here to...? Where did you say you wanted to go, again? It's fine to finish the hunt now, we found a couple of rebels about all the same."

"Did I say I had somewhere else to go?" Kenward asked, scratching his head. "I don't remember. Sorry. Rain does that. I think I'll head back to the palace and check on Lord Ninetales. I don't know why but I've got this feeling that something's...wrong. It's probably nothing, though."

"Right, we'll go to check on that, then, I suppose."

Captain Nayan felt glad to be leaving. He still felt ashamed over how he'd forgotten Captain Kenward's weakness- best to leave as soon as possible, anyway.

He gathered their combined forces, and exited for the palace.

Kenward nodded before dashing after the Golbat, his army following.

.o.o.o.o.

The Houndoom guard stirred slightly, making a noise in the back of his throat.

"Yes? What are you trying to say?" Edin asked the guard. He hoped he wasn't too badly hurt...

"S-" The Houndoom coughed. "S-S-Skule...?"

"Skule ran off, but our Lord didn't let him accomplish much of his plot in the castle, you don't have to worry about that."

.o.o.o.o.

"What's happened here?" the Golbat asked of no one in particular, gazing around. Some Pokemon were looking hurt... and the castle, well...

Was there smoke rising from one part?

Kenward stared at the castle in shock. "Someone set fire to the castle!" he cried. "I hope Lord Ninetales is okay!"

The Charmeleon dashed toward the palace, searching for any sign of their master.

The Golbat wanted to glide in, but he was forced to hesitate.

Smoke rises, after all, and he was only any good in the air. He'd just choke himself inside trying to move around. This was Kenward's element, now. Still...

The captain sent in his more flame-resistant Pokemon, and ones more low to the ground. He still wanted to help out, even if he himself couldn't go. Maybe he could move around the injured outside, at least.

"Lord Ninetales!" Kenward called, dashing through the smoke and flames. "Lord Ninetales! Where are you?!"

Ninetales was trying to find a way to get Lucy out of the burning room without charring her. When he heard Kenward call, he shouted back. "In here! The prisoner's room!"

"I'm coming!" the Charmeleon cried.

Kenward dashed in the direction of the prisoner's room. Jumping through the flames, he spotted Ninetales and Lucy.

"Lord Ninetales! What happened?!" he cried.

"Help me get her out of here!" Ninetales barked, grabbing Lucy's scruff in his jaws and heaving her towards the door. "Skule will pay in blood for this..."

A few of Nayan's Sandshrew and Trapinch had followed to assist them in whatever needed doing. They weren't the greatest Pokemon in a fire, but they were the best Nayan had...

The Wartortle was shooting water onto the flames, dousing the charred and blackened curtains.

Kenward finally made it to Ninetales' side. "I've got her, My Lord! This way!" The Charmeleon led the way toward the exit, carrying Lucy in his arms.


End file.
